Abstract
WHEN on July 30, 1832a century ago Chaptal died at the age of seventy-six years, France lost a man of science and statesman who had, perhaps, done more to further the progress of the arts, industries, and manufactures of the country than any of his contemporaries. The son of a pharmacist, he was trained as a doctor, but it was chemistry which absorbed his attention, and it was as a chemical manufacturer that he first made a reputation. Born on June 4, 1756, at Nogaret, in the Department of Lozere, he graduated at Montpellier in 1777, and four years later was appointed to a newly founded chair of chemistry at the University there. With the fortune left by an uncle he established works for the manufacture of acids, alum, white-lead, and other commodities, and his success was such that in 1793 the Committee of Public Safety employed him with Berthollet and Monge to superintend the manufacture of munitions. Under Chaptal, the output of the Grenelle powder factory was raised to 1½ tons a day.
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Jean Antoine Claude Chaptal, 1756–1832. Nature 130, 122 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130122a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130122a0