Marcelin Berthelot
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Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot (; 25 October 1827 – 18 March 1907) was a French
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
and Republican politician noted for the ThomsenBerthelot principle of
thermochemistry Thermochemistry is the study of the heat energy which is associated with chemical reactions and/or phase changes such as melting and boiling. A reaction may release or absorb energy, and a phase change may do the same. Thermochemistry focuses on ...
. He synthesized many
organic compounds Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...
from inorganic substances, providing a large amount of counter-evidence to the theory of
Jöns Jakob Berzelius Jöns is a Swedish given name and a surname. Notable people with the given name include: * Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist * Jöns Budde (1435–1495), Franciscan friar from the Brigittine monastery in NaantaliVallis Grati ...
that organic compounds required organisms in their synthesis. Berthelot was convinced that chemical synthesis would revolutionize the food industry by the year 2000, and that synthesized foods would replace farms and pastures. "Why not", he asked, "if it proved cheaper and better to make the same materials than to grow them?" He was considered "one of the most famous chemists in the world." Upon being appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for the French government in 1895, he was considered "the most eminent living chemist" in France. In 1901, he was elected as one of the "Forty Immortals" of the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
. He gave all his discoveries not only to the French government but to humanity.


Personal life

Berthelot was born in Rue du Mouton,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, on 25 October 1827, the son of a doctor. He decided with his friend, the great historian
Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; ; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...
, not to attend a where the vast majority of intellectuals were being educated. After doing well at school in history and philosophy, he became a scientist. He was an atheist but was very influenced by his wife, who was a
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
(his wife came from Louis Breguet's family).


Discoveries

The fundamental conception that underlay all Berthelot's chemical work was that all chemical phenomena depend on the action of physical forces which can be determined and measured. When he began his active career it was generally believed that, although some instances of the synthetic production of organic substances had been observed, on the whole
organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
remained an analytical science and could not become a constructive one, because the formation of the substances with which it deals required the intervention of vital activity in some shape. He engaged in a long argument with
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...
on the subject of vitalism, in which Pasteur took the vitalist position on the basis of his work on alcoholic fermentation. To this attitude he offered uncompromising opposition, and by the synthetic production of numerous
hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic; their odor is usually faint, and may b ...
, natural fats, sugars and other bodies he proved that organic compounds can be formed by ordinary methods of chemical manipulation and obey the same principles as inorganic substances, thus exhibiting the "creative character in virtue of which chemistry actually realizes the abstract conceptions of its theories and classifications—a prerogative so far possessed neither by the natural nor by the historical sciences."


Recognition

In 1863 he became a member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine; he was also awarded the Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1880. In 1881 he became a foreign member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...
. He was elected an International Member of the United States
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
in 1833. In 1895, he was elected an International Member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
. Avenue Berthelot in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
was named after him on 25 March 1907.


Publications

His investigations on the synthesis of organic compounds were published in numerous papers and books, including ''Chimie organique fondée sur la synthèse'' (1860) and ''Les Carbures d'hydrogène'' (1901). He stated that chemical phenomena are not governed by any peculiar laws special to themselves, but are explicable in terms of the general laws of mechanics that are in operation throughout the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
; and this view he developed, with the aid of thousands of experiments, in his ''Mécanique chimique'' (1878) and his ''Thermochimie'' (1897). This branch of study naturally conducted him to the investigation of explosives, and on the theoretical side led to the results published in his work ''Sur la force de la poudre et des matières explosives'' (1872), while in practical terms it enabled him to render important services to his country as president of the scientific defence committee during the
siege of Paris (1870–1871) The siege of Paris took place from 19 September 1870 to 28 January 1871 and ended in the capture of the city by forces of the various states of the North German Confederation, led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The siege was the culmination of the F ...
and subsequently as chief of the French explosives committee. He performed experiments to determine gas pressures during
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
explosions using a special chamber fitted with a piston, and was able to distinguish burning of mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen from true
explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...
s.


Historical and philosophical work

During later life he researched and wrote books on the early history of chemistry such as ''Les Origines de l'alchimie'' (1885) and ''Introduction à l'étude de la chimie des anciens et du moyen âge'' (1889), He also translated various old Greek, Syriac and Arabic treatises on alchemy and chemistry: ''Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs'' (1887–1888) and ''La Chimie au moyen âge'' (1893). He was the author of ''Science et philosophie'' (1886), which contains a well-known letter to Renan on "''La Science idéale et la science positive''," of ''La Révolution chimique, Lavoisier'' (1890), of ''Science et morale'' (1897), and of numerous articles in '' La Grande Encyclopédie'', which he helped to establish. * ''Untersuchungen über die Affinitäten, über Bildung und Zersetzung der Äther.'' Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften; 173 Leipzig: Engelmann, 191
Digital edition
by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...


Editions

* *


Family

Berthelot died suddenly on 18 March 1907, immediately after the death of his wife Sophie Niaudet (1837–1907), in Paris. His professorship was filled by Emil Jungfleisch. He was buried with his wife in the
Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...
. He had six children:Individus
at mapage.noos.fr
Marcel André (1862–1939), Marie-Hélène (1863–1895), Camille (1864–1928), Daniel (1865–1927), Philippe (1866–1934), and René (1872–1960).


In art

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
created a bust of Berthelot.


See also

* Abiogenic petroleum origin * Berthelot's reagent


Notes


References

* *


Further reading

* * * Jean Jacques, ''Berthelot 1827-1907, autopsie d'un mythe'', Paris, Belin, 1987. (The author, who admits not liking Berthelot, seeks to sort out the chaff and good grain, not only in his political and ideological activity, but also in his scientific work.)


External links

* * * Biographies of Scientific Men/Berthelot - Wikisource, the free online library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berthelot, Marcelin 1827 births 1907 deaths Politicians from Paris Members of the Académie Française Academic staff of the Collège de France French atheists 19th-century French chemists French life senators Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Burials at the Panthéon, Paris Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Officers of the French Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Scientists from Paris International members of the American Philosophical Society