Antoine Lavoisier was born in Paris, France, and lived from 1743-1794. He was born into a rich family, and had gained a lot of money upon his mother's death. Surprisingly, he was dissuaded away from the sciences by his father at first, as his father claimed it was just a hobby. So in turn, Antoine studied law in college and even gained a bachelor's degree in law. Eventually, he even gained a license to practice as a lawyer. However, his love for the sciences won out, and he moved on to work in this field solely.
Antoine's biggest contribution to the atomic theory was his discovery upon the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law states that mass is neither created or destroyed, and is always constant. He came to this conclusion through a very peculiar experiment involving combustion. He had a giant magnifying glass aimed at a jar containing a diamond. Eventually, the diamond was disintegrated and was unable to be seen, but the jar still weighed the same amount as it did with the diamond inside of it. The diamond had turned into carbon dioxide as well, telling him diamonds were pure carbon.
Some interesting facts of Antoine are that he was actually executed through use of the guillotine after he was accused of stealing money from France. These accusations were baseless, and he was found innocent after his death. His wife Marie-Anne was also quite intellectual and would help her husband in his finding, such as pointing out any errors. She also translated his works to French, as they were originally in English.
Antoine's biggest contribution to the atomic theory was his discovery upon the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law states that mass is neither created or destroyed, and is always constant. He came to this conclusion through a very peculiar experiment involving combustion. He had a giant magnifying glass aimed at a jar containing a diamond. Eventually, the diamond was disintegrated and was unable to be seen, but the jar still weighed the same amount as it did with the diamond inside of it. The diamond had turned into carbon dioxide as well, telling him diamonds were pure carbon.
Some interesting facts of Antoine are that he was actually executed through use of the guillotine after he was accused of stealing money from France. These accusations were baseless, and he was found innocent after his death. His wife Marie-Anne was also quite intellectual and would help her husband in his finding, such as pointing out any errors. She also translated his works to French, as they were originally in English.