22 Mac Leod, The Place of Science in History. 



manure, which has rendered possible the increasing of the 

 production of cultivated areas to a noteworthy extent. 

 In many countries of Europe this increase is such that 

 the result is the same as if hundreds of thousands of acres 

 had been added to the land previously under cultivation ; 

 this is no exaggeration. Consider only for a moment 

 those conquests which have not been made by the sword. 



Modern chemistry has had from the first a notable 

 influence on the progress of other sciences, for example 

 biology and medicine, and at the same time the study of 

 chemistry constitutes one of the best schools for human 

 thought, because it demonstrates to us, by means of in- 

 numerable examples, the creative power of ideas. Every 

 chemical product is the material realisation of an idea. 

 One may say that Lavoisier discovered a new world full 

 of inexhaustible riches. 



Lavoisier was a man of wide learning, and his activi- 

 ties in the most various spheres is truly astonishing. He 

 drew up reports on the cultivation of various crops, and 

 plans for the establishment of experimental farms. Set- 

 ting to work himself he established in 1778 a model farm 

 in order to demonstrate the advantages of scientific 

 methods of cultivation. He busied himself in bettering 

 social and economic conditions by means of savings banks, 

 insurance societies, workshops, canals. He dealt also with 

 questions of hygiene and was secretary of the commission 

 constituted in 1790 to standardise weights and measures. 



In these times of often exaggerated specialisation, 

 one may perhaps be tempted to regret that Lavoisier did 

 not devote all his power to chemistry. But we must not 

 forget that it was this very diversity of occupation which 

 made of Lavoisier the powerful individuality, alone 

 capable of accomplishing his splendid work. This work 

 is that of a profound thinker, and the laws of thought 



