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Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau

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Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau
Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau
Born4 January 1737(1737-01-04)
Dijon,France
Died2 January 1816(1816-01-03)(aged 78)
Paris,France
NationalityFrench
Known forchemical nomenclature
SpouseClaudine Picardet
Scientific career
Fieldschemistry

Louis-Bernard Guyton, Baron de Morveau(alsoLouis-Bernard Guyton-Morveauafter theFrench Revolution;4 January 1737 – 2 January 1816) was a Frenchchemist,politician, andaeronaut.He is credited with producing the first systematic method ofchemical nomenclature.[1]

Early career[edit]

Guyton de Morveau was born inDijon,where he served as a lawyer, thenavocat général,of the Dijonparlement.[2]

In 1773, already interested in chemistry, he proposed use of "muriatic acid gas" for fumigation of buildings and as a result is sometimes given credit for having suggestedchlorinein this use. However, chlorine was not well characterized at that time, andhydrogen chloride(made by reactingsodium chlorideandsulfuric acid) was actually the active gaseous fumigation agent.[3]

He was criticized byJean Pierre Chardenonwho told him that he should rest in his literary achievements and stay way from chemistry. This challenge led to his resigning his post in 1782 to dedicate himself tochemistry,[4]collaborating on theEncyclopédie Méthodiqueand working for industrial applications.[2]He performed various useful services in this role, and foundedLa Société des Mines et VerreriesinSaint-Bérain-sur-Dheune.[5]He developed the first system ofchemical nomenclature.[6]

In 1783, he was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciencesand in 1788 aFellow of the Royal Society.[7]

Revolution[edit]

During the Revolution, Guyton de Morveau (then styledGuyton-Morveau) served asProcureur général syndicof theCôte-d'Ordépartementin 1790, was elected a deputy to theLegislative Assemblyin 1792, and then to theNational Convention.[8]

Although a member of theright wing,he voted in favor of the execution ofKingLouis XVI.[9]Guyton de Morveau served on theCommittee of Public Safetyfrom 6 April 1793 to 10 July 1793,[10]when he resigned in order to devote his time to the manufacture of firearms, and formation of a corps ofballoonistsfor theFrench Revolutionary Army.He himself flew in a balloon during thebattle of Fleuruson 26 June 1794, and assisted in several other battles.[11]

Later life[edit]

He was among the founders of theÉcole polytechniqueand theÉcole de Mars,and was a professor of mineralogy at the Polytechnique (as well as its director in 1797).[12]He became a first-class member of theAcadémie des sciencesin chemistry, on 20 November 1795, and subsequently elected vice-president of the class (1806) and then president (1807). In 1798 he marriedClaudine Picardet,a recently widowed friend and colleague. Under theDirectory,he served on theCouncil of Five Hundredfrom 1797, elected fromIlle-et-Vilaine,and wasTreasuryadministrator of theConsulatein 1799.

Works[edit]

Besides being a diligent contributor to the scientific periodicals of the day, Guyton wroteMémoire sur l’éducation publique(1762); a satirical poem entitledLe Rat iconoclaste, ou le Jésuite croqué(1763);Discours publics et éloges(1775–1782);Plaidoyers sur plusieurs questions de droit(1785); andTraité des moyens de désinfecter l’air(1801), describing the disinfecting powers of chlorine, and ofhydrochloric acidgas which he had successfully used at Dijon in 1773. With Hugues Maret (1726–1785) and Jean François Durande (d. 1794) he also published theÉlémens de chymie théorique et pratique(1776–1777).

  • First page of Lavoisier's Chymical Nomenclature
    First page ofLavoisier'sChymical Nomenclature
  • Airship flown by Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, 1784
    Airship flown by Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, 1784
  • First flight with a dirigible balloon, 12 June 1784.
    First flight with adirigible balloon,12 June 1784.
  • 1787 copy of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique," featuring work by Morveau
    1787 copy of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique," featuring work by Morveau
  • 1787 copy of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique," featuring work by Morveau
    1787 copy of "Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique," featuring work by Morveau

Awards and honors[edit]

During his lifetime, Guyton de Morveau received the cross of theLegion of Honour(1803) and was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour for service to humanity (1805). He was made abaronof theFirst French Empirein 1811.[13][14]

Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau's 1788 publication entitledMéthode de Nomenclature Chimique,published with colleaguesAntoine Lavoisier,Claude Louis Berthollet,andAntoine François, comte de Fourcroy,[15]was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented at the Académie des Sciences (Paris) in 2015.[16][17]

Guyton de Morveau died in Paris on 2 January 1816.[13]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLouis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau.
  1. ^Simon, Jonathan (November 2002). "Authority and authorship in the method of chemical nomenclature".Ambix.49(3). England: 206–26.doi:10.1179/amb.2002.49.3.206.ISSN0002-6980.PMID12833919.S2CID27672569.
  2. ^abThis article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Guyton de Morveau, Louis Bernard, Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 747.
  3. ^Van Heiningen, TW (2014). "[The contribution of Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737-1816) to public health and the adoption of his ideas in the Netherlands]".Histoire des sciences médicales.48(1): 97–106.PMID24908789.
  4. ^Smeaton, W. A. (1966)."L. B. Guyton de Morveau".Platinum Metals Review.10(1): 24–28.
  5. ^Viel, Claude (1998)."L'Activité de chimiste de Guyton de Morveau à travers ses lettres à Macquer et à Picot de La Peyrouse"(PDF).Annales de Bourgogne.70(3): 55–67.Retrieved25 July2016.
  6. ^Pawley, Emily (2008)."Materials Matter".Chemical Heritage Magazine.26(3): 44.Retrieved26 March2018.
  7. ^"Fellow details".Royal Society.Retrieved22 January2017.
  8. ^Rorgue, Fabien (2016)."Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, procureur général syndic du département de la Côte-d'Or (mai 1790-septembre 1791)".Annales historiques de la Révolution française.1(383): 109–130.Retrieved25 July2016.
  9. ^Szabadváry, Ferenc; Svehla, trans., Gyula (1992).History of analytical chemistry.Yverdon, Switzerland: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. pp. 205–206.ISBN978-2881245695.Retrieved25 July2016.
  10. ^Lamartine, Alphonse Marie L. de Prat de; Ryde, trans., H T (1848).History of the Girondists or Personal memoirs of the patriots of the French revolution.Covent Garden: Henry C. Bohn. pp.107.Retrieved25 July2016.
  11. ^Hallion, Richard P. (2003).Taking flight: inventing the aerial age, from antiquity through the First World War.New York: Oxford University Press. pp.63–64.ISBN978-0195160352.Retrieved25 July2016.
  12. ^Ørsted, Hans Christian (2013).Reading nature's mind.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199669264.Retrieved25 July2016.
  13. ^abBaynes, Spencer; Smith, W. Robertson (1906).The New Werner Twentieth Century Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 11; A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature, Science, History, Geography, Commerce, Biography, Discovery and Invention.Akron, Ohio: The Werner Company. p. 307.ISBN9781130440935.
  14. ^Crosland, Maurice (2002).Science under control: the French Academy of Sciences, 1795-1914.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 169–170.ISBN9780521524759.Retrieved25 July2016.
  15. ^Guyton de Morveau, Louis Bernard; Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent; Berthollet, Claude-Louis; Fourcroy, Antoine-François de (1787).Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique.Paris, France: Chez Cuchet (Sous le Privilége de l’Académie des Sciences).
  16. ^"2015 Awardees".American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences. 2015.Retrieved1 July2016.
  17. ^"Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award"(PDF).American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences. 2015.Retrieved1 July2016.
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