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Marcellin Berthelot

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Marcellin Berthelot
Born
Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot

(1827-10-25)25 October 1827
Paris,France
Died18 March 1907(1907-03-18)(aged 79)
Paris, France
Known forThomsen–Berthelot principle
Berthelot's reagent
Principle of maximum work
SpouseSophie Berthelot
Children
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry(thermochemistry)

Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot(French:[bɛʁtəlo];25 October 1827[1]– 18 March 1907) was a FrenchchemistandRepublicanpolitician noted for theThomsen–Berthelot principleofthermochemistry.He synthesized manyorganic compoundsfrom inorganic substances,[2]providing a large amount of counter-evidence to the theory ofJöns Jakob Berzeliusthat organic compounds required organisms in their synthesis. Berthelot was convinced that chemical synthesis would revolutionize the food industry by the year 2000, and that synthesized foods would replace farms and pastures. "Why not", he asked, "if it proved cheaper and better to make the same materials than to grow them?"[2][3]

He was considered "one of the most famous chemists in the world."[3]Upon being appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for the French government in 1895, he was considered "the most eminent living chemist" in France.[4] In 1901, he was elected as one of the "Forty Immortals" of theAcadémie française.[5][6] He gave all his discoveries not only to the French government but to humanity.[7]

Personal life

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Berthelot was born in Rue du Mouton,Paris,[8]France,on 25 October 1827, the son of a doctor. He decided with his friend, the great historianErnest Renan,not to attend agrande écolewhere the vast majority of intellectuals were being educated.[9]After doing well at school in history and philosophy, he became a scientist.

He was an atheist but was very influenced by his wife, who was aCalvinist[10](his wife came fromLouis Breguet's family).[11][12]

Discoveries

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The fundamental conception that underlay all Berthelot's chemical work was that all chemical phenomena depend on the action of physical forces which can be determined and measured. When he began his active career it was generally believed that, although some instances of the synthetic production of organic substances had been observed, on the wholeorganic chemistryremained an analytical science and could not become a constructive one, because the formation of the substances with which it deals required the intervention ofvital activityin some shape.[13]He engaged in a long argument withLouis Pasteuron the subject of vitalism, in which Pasteur took the vitalist position on the basis of his work on alcoholic fermentation.[14]

To this attitude he offered uncompromising opposition, and by the synthetic production of numeroushydrocarbons,natural fats, sugars and other bodies he proved that organic compounds can be formed by ordinary methods of chemical manipulation and obey the same principles as inorganic substances, thus exhibiting the "creative character in virtue of which chemistry actually realizes the abstract conceptions of its theories and classifications—a prerogative so far possessed neither by the natural nor by the historical sciences."[13]

Recognition

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In 1863 he became a member of theAcadémie Nationale de Médecine;he was also awarded the Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour.He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1880.[15]In 1881 he became a foreign member of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[16]He was elected an International Member of the United StatesNational Academy of Sciencesin 1833.[17]In 1895, he was elected an International Member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.[18]

Avenue BerthelotinLyonwas named after him on 25 March 1907.

Publications

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Bombs used for hydrogen explosion experiments
La Révolution chimique,1890

His investigations on the synthesis of organic compounds were published in numerous papers and books, includingChimie organique fondée sur la synthèse(1860) andLes Carbures d'hydrogène(1901). He stated that chemical phenomena are not governed by any peculiar laws special to themselves, but are explicable in terms of the general laws of mechanics that are in operation throughout theuniverse;and this view he developed, with the aid of thousands of experiments, in hisMécanique chimique(1878) and hisThermochimie(1897). This branch of study naturally conducted him to the investigation of explosives, and on the theoretical side led to the results published in his workSur la force de la poudre et des matières explosives(1872), while in practical terms it enabled him to render important services to his country as president of the scientific defence committee during thesiege of Paris (1870–1871)and subsequently as chief of the French explosives committee.[13]He performed experiments to determinegas pressuresduringhydrogenexplosions using a special chamber fitted with a piston, and was able to distinguish burning of mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen from trueexplosions.[citation needed]

Historical and philosophical work

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During later life he researched and wrote books on the early history of chemistry such asLes Origines de l'alchimie(1885)[19]andIntroduction à l'étude de la chimie des anciens et du moyen âge(1889),[20]He also translated various old Greek, Syriac and Arabic treatises on alchemy and chemistry:Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs(1887–1888)[21]andLa Chimie au moyen âge(1893).[22]He was the author ofScience et philosophie(1886),[23]which contains a well-known letter to Renan on "La Science idéale et la science positive,"ofLa Révolution chimique, Lavoisier(1890),[24]ofScience et morale(1897),[25]and of numerous articles inLa Grande Encyclopédie,which he helped to establish.

Editions

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  • Introduction a l'étude de la chimie des anciens et du Moyen Age(in French). Paris: Steinheil. 1889.
  • La Révolution chimique(in French). Paris: Alcan. 1890.

Family

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Rodin's bust of Berthelot.Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,Copenhagen, Denmark

Berthelot died suddenly on 18 March 1907, immediately after the death of his wifeSophie Niaudet(1837–1907), in Paris.[13]His professorship was filled byEmil Jungfleisch.

He was buried with his wife in thePanthéon.He had six children:[26]Marcel André(1862–1939), Marie-Hélène (1863–1895), Camille (1864–1928), Daniel (1865–1927),Philippe(1866–1934), and René (1872–1960).

In art

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Auguste Rodincreated a bust of Berthelot.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Jungfleisch, Émile (1913)."Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Marcellin Berthelot".Bulletin de la Société Chimique de France.13(Extrait): 1–260.
  2. ^abGross, Daniel A. (2015)."Brave New Butter".Distillations.1(1): 6–7.Retrieved30 April2018.
  3. ^abOgle, Maureen (7 August 2013)."A Century Before the Lab-Grown Burger, This Chemist Imagined" Toothsome "Manufactured Food".Slate/Future Tense.Retrieved30 April2018.
  4. ^"Biographies".Bulletin of Pharmacy.9:574. 1895.Retrieved30 April2018.
  5. ^Hearst, W. R. (1903).The American Almanac, Year-book, Cyclopaedia and Atlas.Vol. 1. New York American and Journal, Hearst's Chicago American and San Francisco Examiner. p. 219.Retrieved30 April2018.
  6. ^"Contemporary celebrities".Current Literature.32:139. 1902.Retrieved30 April2018.
  7. ^Talbot, Jean (1995).Les éléments chimiques et les hommes.Paris: SIRPE.
  8. ^"Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002"(PDF).The Royal Society of Edinburgh.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 19 September 2015.Retrieved30 April2018.
  9. ^M. Berthelot, Sciences et Morales, On education, Paris, Impr. Nouvelle,
  10. ^Abraham Louis Breguet on www.hautehorlogerie.com
  11. ^Robert K. Wilcox (2010).The Truth About the Shroud of Turin: Solving the Mystery.Regnery Gateway. p. 23.ISBN978-1-59698-600-8.In 1902, Marcellin P. Berthelot, often called the founder of modern organic chemistry, was one of France's most celebrated scientists—if not the world's. He was permanent secretary of the French Academy, having succeeded the giant Louis Pasteur, the renowned microbiologist. Unlike Delage, an agnostic, Berthelot was an atheist—and militantly so.
  12. ^Thomas de Wesselow (2012).The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection.Penguin.ISBN978-1-101-58855-0.Although Delage made it clear that he did not regard Jesus as the resurrected Son of God, his paper upset the atheist members of the Academy, including its secretary, Marcellin Berthelot, who prevented its full publication in the Academy's bulletin.
  13. ^abcdThis article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Berthelot, Marcellin Pierre Eugène".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 811; see para 2.
  14. ^Friedmann, H C (1997). Cornish-Bowden, A (ed.).From Friedrich Wöhler's urine to Eduard Buchner's alcohol.Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain. pp. 67–122.ISBN84-370-3328-4.
  15. ^"Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B"(PDF).American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Retrieved11 September2016.
  16. ^"M. Berthelot (1827 - 1907)".Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.Retrieved23 April2016.
  17. ^"M. P. E. Berthelot".www.nasonline.org.Retrieved15 March2024.
  18. ^"APS Member History".search.amphilsoc.org.Retrieved15 March2024.
  19. ^Les origines de l'alchemie(Paris, G. Steinheil, 1885).
  20. ^Introduction à l'étude de la chimie, des anciens et du moyen âge(Paris, G. Steinheil, 1889).
  21. ^Collection des anciens alchimistes Grec.Volume 1,Volume 2–3(Paris: G. Steinheil, 1887).
  22. ^Histoire des sciences: La chimie au moyen âge(Imprimerie nationale, 1893).
  23. ^Science et philosophie(Levy, 1886).
  24. ^La révolution chimique: Lavoisier(Paris Germer-Baillière, 1890)
  25. ^Science Et Morale(Levy, 1897).
  26. ^Individusat mapage.noos.fr

References

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Further reading

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  • Crosland, M.P. (1970–1980). "Berthelot, Pierre Eugène Marcelin".Dictionary of Scientific Biography.Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 63–72.ISBN978-0-684-10114-9.
  • Graebe, O. (1908)."Marcelin Berthelot".Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft.41(3): 4805–4872.doi:10.1002/cber.190804103193.
  • Jean Jacques,Berthelot 1827-1907, autopsie d'un mythe,Paris, Belin, 1987. (The author, who admits not liking Berthelot, seeks to sort out the chaff and good grain, not only in his political and ideological activity, but also in his scientific work.)
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
1886–1887 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1895–1896 		Succeeded by
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