Becoming Visible. Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier and the Campaign for the "New Chemistry" (1770s-1790s)

Ambix. 2022 Aug;69(3):221-242. doi: 10.1080/00026980.2022.2091352. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

Abstract

This paper examines an episode of the history of chemistry, the campaign for the promotion of so-called "new chemistry," dating to the second half of the 1780s, to investigate the ways in which women could build their own reputation. I focus on the case of Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier (1758-1836), today known as the wife and scientific associate of the French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794). Drawing on a wide set of published and unpublished sources - laboratory notebooks, travel diaries, letters, and drawings - I will delve deeper into their collaboration, showing how Paulze-Lavoisier appropriated the campaign for the new chemistry to appear as a visible actor in the scientific circles of the time. I will then highlight the multiple self-representations she produced while participating in these events.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Chemistry
  • Female
  • France
  • History, 18th Century
  • Humans
  • Publications*