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Jean d'Arcet, French Chemist

Jean d'Arcet (September 7, 1724 - February 12,1801) was a French chemist, and director of the porcelain works at Sèvres. His memoir on the behavior of minerals under high heat led to a better classification. His discovery of the method for making true porcelain from native raw materials transformed Sévres into a world famous ceramic industry. He devoted his life to teaching, to science, and to the development of the national industry at the critical time of the Revolution. In 1775 he developed an alloy made of tin, bismuth, and lead that was liquid at the temperature of boiling water and latter found use in the production of stereotype plate. Today d'Arcet metal is used in dentistry. In 1774 he was appointed professor of chemistry in the Collège de France and in 1795 he became a member of the Institute. He was once accused of manufacturing cups of gelatine using the bones of Molière, Pascal, and others. He was condemned to the guillotine but managed to escape the night before he was to be decapitated. He died in 1801, at the age of 75, during violent intestinal spasms, probably caused by a gout metastasis.
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Title:
Jean d'Arcet, French Chemist
Caption:
Jean d'Arcet (September 7, 1724 - February 12,1801) was a French chemist, and director of the porcelain works at Sèvres. His memoir on the behavior of minerals under high heat led to a better classification. His discovery of the method for making true porcelain from native raw materials transformed Sévres into a world famous ceramic industry. He devoted his life to teaching, to science, and to the development of the national industry at the critical time of the Revolution. In 1775 he developed an alloy made of tin, bismuth, and lead that was liquid at the temperature of boiling water and latter found use in the production of stereotype plate. Today d'Arcet metal is used in dentistry. In 1774 he was appointed professor of chemistry in the Collège de France and in 1795 he became a member of the Institute. He was once accused of manufacturing cups of gelatine using the bones of Molière, Pascal, and others. He was condemned to the guillotine but managed to escape the night before he was to be decapitated. He died in 1801, at the age of 75, during violent intestinal spasms, probably caused by a gout metastasis.
Credit:
Album / Science Source / Smithsonian Institution Libraries
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Image size:
3300 x 4115 px | 38.9 MB
Print size:
27.9 x 34.8 cm | 11.0 x 13.7 in (300 dpi)
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