Antoine Lavoisier-who lived at the zenith of the Enlightenment and died at the hands of the Revolution-was himself a revolutionary.

This Very Short Introduction traces the history and cultural impact of the elements on humankind, and examines why people have long sought to identify the substances around them. Looking beyond the Periodic Table, the author takes the reader on an engaging and entertaining tour: from the Greek philosophers who propounded a system with four elements - earth, air, fire, and water - to the modern-day scientists who are able to create their own.

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Excerpt from A History of Chemical Theory From the Age of Lavoisier to the Present Time The graphic History of Chemical Theory here presented to the English reader, forms the Introductory Discourse to M. Wurtz's 'Dictionnaire de Chimie.' Though the opening sentences may be thought to savour too strongly of national partiality, it will nevertheless be found that the Author has habitually done full justice to the labours of chemists belonging to other nations. One or two discoveries having important bearings on the development of chemical theory have however been passed over, and these the Translator has endeavoured to elucidate by a few additional notes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.