Fallen Into Knowledge

In 1774, the French chemist, Antoine Lavoisier, was racing to discover the properties of a substance Henry Cavendish called “inflammable air.” Lavoisier believed, as did the two other scientists who were also bent on beating him to the discovery, that this “inflammable air” might be created by de-phlogisticating otherwise ordinary air. See, the going theory was that in addition to the 4 Greek elements of air, fire, water, and earth there was this fifth element (and, no, its not love!), this fifth element was contained in combustible substances and was released during combustion. They needed something to explain the processes of rust and oxidation, and phlogiston was it. At any rate, Lavoisier was trying to remove all of the phlogiston from the air to isolate this “inflammable air” - or, aether, as it was sometimes called.
As you might expect, he didn’t succeed. (more…)