Antoine Lavoisier, born in 1743 in Paris, France, was a prominent French chemist often referred to as the “father of modern chemistry.” He is best known for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of chemical reactions and the establishment of the law of conservation of mass. Lavoisier conducted meticulous experiments that led to the discovery of the role of oxygen in combustion and the identification of many elements. He also played a crucial role in standardizing chemical nomenclature and methodology, laying the groundwork for modern chemistry. However, Lavoisier’s career was cut short by political turmoil during the French Revolution, and he was executed by guillotine in 1794. Despite his tragic end, his scientific legacy remains influential in the development of chemistry.

Antoine Lavoisier Quotes

1. “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

2. “Nothing is born, nothing dies.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

3. “It required 85 parts by weight of oxygen and 15 parts of hydrogen to compose 100 parts of water.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

4. “Languages are true analytical methods.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

5. “I am young and avid for glory.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

6. “I consider nature a vast chemical laboratory in which all kinds of composition and decompositions are formed.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

7. “The whole art of making experiments in chemistry is founded on the principle: we must always suppose an exact equality or equation between the principles of the body examined and those of the products of its analysis.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

8. “Vegetables are organized bodies that grow on the dry areas of the globe and within its waters. Their function is to combine immediately the four elements and to serve as food for animals.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

9. “Vegetation is the basic instrument the creator uses to set all of nature in motion.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

10. “Sulfur, when burning, absorbs oxygen gas; the resulting acid is considerably heavier than the sulfur burned; its weight is equal to the sum of weights of the sulfur burned and the oxygen absorbed.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

11. “One succeeds in obtaining an equivalent production at a lower price by improving the arts, trades and agriculture and by developing the physical and moral qualities of workers, farmers and craftsmen.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

12. “It is almost possible to predict one or two days in advance, within a rather broad range of probability, what the weather is going to be; it is even thought that it will not be impossible to publish daily forecasts, which would be very useful to soci.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

13. “Thus, while I thought myself employed only in forming a Nomenclature, and while I proposed to myself nothing more than to improve the chemical language, my work transformed itself by degrees, without my being able to prevent it, into a treatise upon the Elements of Chemistry.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

14. “We must trust to nothing but facts: These are presented to us by Nature, and cannot deceive. We ought, in every instance, to submit our reasoning to the test of experiment, and never to search for truth but by the natural road of experiment and observation.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

15. “The human mind adjusts itself to a certain point of view, and those who have regarded nature from one angle, during a portion of their life, can adopt new ideas only with difficulty.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

16. “Experiments upon vegetation give reason to believe that light combines with certain parts of vegetables, and that the green of their leaves, and the various colors of flowers, is chiefly owing to this combination.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

17. “Imagination, on the contrary, which is ever wandering beyond the bounds of truth, joined to self-love and that self-confidence we are so apt to indulge, prompt us to draw conclusions which are not immediately derived from facts.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

18. “A wealthy landowner cannot cultivate and improve his farm without spreading comfort and well-being around him. Rich and abundant crops, a numerous population and a prosperous countryside are the rewards for his efforts.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

19. “Mathematicians come to the solution of a problem by the simple arrangement of the data, and reducing the reasoning to such simple operations, to judgments so brief, that they never lose sight of the evidence that serves as their guide.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

20. “It is not only by the pores of the skin that this aqueous emaciation takes place. A considerable quantity of humidity is also exhaled by the lungs at each expiration.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

21. “Diminish the mass of evils that afflict the human species, increase enjoyment and well-being. And even if the new routes opened up could prolong the average life of mankind by only a few hours, or even a few days, then the scientist, too could aspire.”
— Antoine Lavoisier

22. “Rien ne se cree, rien ne se perd.”
— Antoine Lavoisier