29. Read and translate the text “Emergence of Science”. Find in it answers to the given questions.

The words and phrases below which you should memorize will help you to understand the text:

conservation – сохранение; oxygen – кислород; composition – состав; solid – твёрдый; liquid – жидкий; gaseous – газообразный; combustion – возгорание, горение; substance – субстанция, вещество; to champion the notion – отстаивать понятие; to underpin experiments – подкреплять эксперименты; nitrogen – азот.

Emergence of science

1. Why do they call Antoine Lavoisier the father of chemistry?

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) is said to have been the father of chemistry making the first list of elements, establishing the idea of conservation of mass and energy and discovering the true nature of burning and the role of oxygen.

2. Did scientists of the 18^th century know much about the composition of the things?

Thanks to Newton and Galileo, scientists of the 18^th century knew a lot about how and why things moved, but very little about their composition. Chemistry was still closely connected with alchemists searching for what they called ‘philosopher’s stone’ that would turn ordinary base metal into gold.

3. How did Lavoisier benefit from the work of British chemists and make significant advances in his own right?

A. Lavoisier undoubtedly benefited from the work of British chemists, and there have been some arguments over who achieved what. But it was A. Lavoisier who pulled it all together and made all significant advances in his own right. It was A. Lavoisier who realized that every substance can exist in three states – solid, liquid and gaseous. He also showed that air has a mass and may be a mixture of gases (oxygen and nitrogen, which he called azote). He showed that water is a compound of two gases. He also proved that the phlogiston idea of burning, which dominated at that time was wrong and gave us modern theory of combustion.

4. What did the notion of exact measurement and the idea of conservation of mass, which Lavoisier championed, imply?

A. Lavoisier was a meticulous experimenter who championed the notion of exact measurement and the idea of conservation of mass, implying that whatever changes substances undergo in an experiment, no mass is ever lost. This crucial insight not only helped him prove the true nature of combustion, but still underpins all experiments with matter even today. In 1774, the English chemist J. Priestly noticed that a candle burned with an unusually strong flame in the presence of unknown gas. On a visit to Paris the following year, he met A. Lavoisier and told him about this phenomenon. A. Lavoisier at once did a series of experiments with the new gas and with air.

5. What did Lavoisier learn from a series of experiments with the new gas and with air?

Lavoisier learnt from these that air is made up from two gases: firstly, the gas that is involved in combustion, which Lavoisier called oxygen and secondly, the gas that came to be called nitrogen, and which he called azote.

6. What properties of oxygen did Lavoisier show?

Even more importantly, Lavoisier went on to show that burning is closely related to breathing, and that they both involve oxygen. Our lungs take in the oxygen we need from the air and expel carbon dioxide. He also showed that oxygen reacts with metals to form oxides, a process called oxidation. Rusting, rotting organic matter and burning wood are all kinds of oxidation.

7. What field of science did Lavoisier establish? Where did he summarize the results of his work?

Lavoisier was aware how important his work was, and was determined to show that he was establishing a new field of science, experimental chemistry. Firstly, in 1787, he published a method for naming chemicals according to their properties, and the system of symbols as shorthand for them that chemists still use today. Secondly, he wrote a major summary of the field in his ‘Treate Elementaire de Chemie’ in 1789.