Cours et demonstrations de la chimie en France au 17e siècle

Abstract

SUMMARY: Although during the seventeenth century chemistry was largely absent from university curricula, there exists a large number of didactical treatises. Many chemists offered private or public instruction according to their own 'method'. As such, chemistry was pulling away from the alchemical tradition of secrecy and personal illumination towards a standard of rational and public knowledge. The comparative study of the didactical treatises reveals a particular style in the development of chemistry, which may be linked to the relatively late occurence of the Chemical Revolution of Lavoisier.