For millennia wizards and sages were involved in what we call today Magic and Alchemy simply to uncover the rules of the Universe, which in fact govern our life on Earth. They were invariably hunted, hated and convicted, but also sought after in lean times and perceived as a last chance and resource in healing, as well as in pursuit for solutions to spiritual problems.

In the 8th century for the first time Alchemy has began to transform into today’s chemistry, however it took another 10 centuries and many “baby steps” to become true chemistry as we know today. One of the first scientists on this field was Antoine Lavoisier. His outstanding body of work not only opened the door to further and faster development, but also brought us a new vocabulary on this field – vocabulary, which chemists use until present time.

His unfortunate death during the French Revolution (he was beheaded by a guillotine) slowed down the progress in chemistry, but didn’t stop it completely. The energy was already set in motion.

Lavoisier is mostly remembered for his combustion theory and for the notion that nothing in a chemical process is lost – it can change the state or form, but the nature itself is a closed system in which nothing is ever lost or wasted. He further claimed that “In nature nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything changes”. Not too many of us know that every time we say: “Nothing in the Universe ever disappears” we actually quote Antoine Lavoisier.

The other quite popular saying about “chemistry between people” wither in regards to love or infatuation should be actually also attributed to Lavoisier, since it was him who said that “Life is a chemical process”.

Chemistry as my first degree brought me (kind of consequently) to a broader application of it, hence I have continued with Environmental Engineering. But I have always admired the greatest minds of the 18th century – the century during which so much of science began, it was the cradle of new ways of understanding life on Earth and our role in this process.

I do believe that if not for Antoine Lavoisier and his obsession with precision in measurements, weighing and accuracy, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I am aware that he as much as many others made many mistakes and presumptions, some of which did not prove to be accurate, but I believe he set the path for all of us. New physics, the Quantum Physics, and the modern Chemistry will forever be grateful to Lavoisier for setting the standards, for establishing the metric system (based on the Greek: metreo – measure) etc. He truly is a father of modern chemistry.

We must mention here that Lavoisier was always rich, so he could have wasted his life as many of his contemporaries. However his passion for science and knowledge led him to investing his wealth into common good and progress of all.

I am only sorry that his name is not so commonly known as other chemists, since to me Antoine Lavoisier will always be a perfect example of a true Renaissance Man.