Lavoisier's Geologic Activities, 1763-1792

Abstract

Historians of science have long known that Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was a geologist of distinction. Briefly summarized, the highlights of his geologic career are: a long field trip through the Vosges with naturalist Jean-Étienne Guettard in 1767, collaboration with Guettard in the preparation of a geologic atlas of France, and the completion, in 1789, of a justly famous memoir on sedimentary strata. These familiar facts, however, have been used by biographers to illuminate matters which have little to do with geology. Thus, the tour of the Vosges becomes an illustration of Lavoisier’s early enthusiasm and versatility; his contributions to the atlas serve as an introduction to his subsequent dispute with Antoine Monnet; and his memoir on sedimentary strata is an example of what Lavoisier could accomplish in a science other than chemistry.

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