How Did Joseph Proust Contribute To Chemistry

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One of the greatest scientists of the 1700s and 1800s was a man named Joseph L. Proust. He was a French chemist who was born on September 26, 1754 in Angers, France and died on July 5, 1826 in Angers, France. Proust changed science as everyone before him knew it. His ideas at the time were not held too highly for what they were. Nowadays, people view him as one of the greatest chemists of the past in terms of atomic structure. He is well known for his theory of definite composition that he came up with in 1793. This theory states that the percent composition of any sample of a substance is the same. In order to come up with this theory, Proust conducted a series of experiments with a lot of research behind it. One of the most successful experiments that backed up his theory was with the oxides of iron in 1797. He started out his life as the second son of an apothecary, Joseph Proust. As a child he worked to become an apothecary like his father. He had worked for this goal in Angers first and then in Paris. Proust received his education in his early years from his godparents and extended his education at the local Oratorian college. At the time, he was apprenticed to his father to …show more content…

They never had any children. While in Segovia, he started to publish his papers on definite proportions. In 1816, Proust was elected to the French Academy of Sciences to succeed Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau. After his wife died in 1817, he moved back to Angers where he took over a pharmacy owned by his brother, Joachim, who was poor in health. After this in 1819, he was made the chevalier of the Legion of Honour and he was granted a pension by Louis XVIII in 1820. Overall, Proust’s work changed science forever because scientists could now use the information that no matter what the percentage of composition that a sample of a substance contains, it will be the same for that

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