Nicolas Lémery (or Lemery as his name appeared in his international publications) (17 November 1645 – 19 June 1715), French chemist, was born at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry.

Life

After learning

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

in his native town he became a pupil of

Christophe Glaser Christopher Glaser (1615 – between 1670 and 1678), a pharmaceutical chemist of the 17th century. Life He was born in Basel. He became demonstrator of chemistry, as successor of Lefebvre, at the Jardin du Roi in Paris, and apothecary to Louis XI ...

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 ...

, and then went to

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, where he began to lecture on

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. He next established a pharmacy in Paris, still continuing his lectures, but following 1683, being 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 ...

, he was obliged to retire to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In the following year he returned to France, and turning

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1686 was able to reopen his shop and resume his lectures. He died in Paris on 19 June 1715. Lemery did not concern himself much with theoretical speculations, but holding chemistry to be a demonstrative science, confined himself to the straightforward exposition of facts and experiments. In consequence, his lecture-room was thronged with people of all sorts, anxious to hear a man who shunned the barren obscurities of the

alchemists Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, and did not regard the quest of the

philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver; it was also known as "the tincture" and "the powder". Alchemists additionally believed that it could be used to mak ...

and the

elixir of life The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: ' ), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker Immortality, eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to Panacea (medicine), cure all diseases. Alch ...

as the sole end of his science. Of his ''Cours de chymie'' (1675) he lived to see 13 editions, and for a century it maintained its reputation as a standard work. In 1680, using the

corpuscular theory In optics, the corpuscular theory of light states that light is made up of small discrete particles called " corpuscles" (little particles) which travel in a straight line with a finite velocity and possess impetus. This notion was based on an al ...

as a basis, Lemery stipulated that the

acidity An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

of any substance consisted in its pointed particles, while

alkalis In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

were endowed with pores of various sizes.Lemery, Nicolas. (1680). ''An Appendix to a Course of Chymistry.'' London, pp. 14–15. A molecule, according to this view, consisted of corpuscles united through a geometric locking of points and pores. His other publications included ''Pharmacopée universelle'' (1697), ''Traité universel des drogues simples'' (1698), ''Traité de l'antimoine'' (1707), together with a number of papers contributed to the

French Academy French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, one of which offered a chemical and physical explanation of underground fires,

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

and thunder. He discovered that heat is evolved when iron filings and

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

are rubbed together to a paste with water, and the artificial ''volcan de Lemery'' was produced by burying underground a considerable quantity of this mixture, which he regarded as a potent agent in the causation of volcanic action. His son

Louis Lémery Louis Lémery (25 January 1677 – 9 June 1743) was a French botanist and chemist. The son of scientist Nicolas Lemery, Louis was appointed physician at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris in 1710, and became demonstrator of chemistry at the Jardin du Ro ...

(1677–1743) was appointed physician at the

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu () was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris being the oldest an ...

in 1710, and became demonstrator of chemistry at the

Jardin du Roi The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

in 1731. He was the author of a ''Traité des aliments'' (1702), and of a ''Dissertation sur la nature des os'' (1704), as well as of a number of papers on chemical topics.

Works

* ''Cours de chymie : contenant la maniere de faire les operations qui sont en usage dans la medecine, par un methode facile ; avec des raisonnements sur chaque operation, pour l'instruction de ceux qui veulent s'appliquer a cette science''. - 6. ed. - Paris : Michallet, 1687
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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. ...

. * ''Het philosoophze laboratorium, oft' der chymisten stook-huis''. - Amsterdam : ten Hoorn, 1691
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of the

. * ''Nouveau recueil de curiositez, les plus rares & admirables de tous les effects, que l'art & la nature sont capables de produire''. Volume 1–2. Dernière édition augmentée, corrigée & enrichie de tailles-douces. Leyde : van der Aa, 1688
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* ''Nouveau recueil de secrets et curiositez, les plus rares & admirables de tous les effects, que l'art & la nature sont capables de produire''. - 5. ed. - Amsterdam : Mortier, 1697
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. *
1
*
2
* ''A course of chymistry : containing an easie method of preparing those chymical medicins which are used in physick ; with curious remarks and useful discourses upon each preparation, for the benefit of such a desire to be instructed in the knowledge of this art''. - The 3rd. ed., transl. from the 8th ed. in the French. - London : Kettilby, 1698
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. * ''Cours de chymie, oder der vollkommene Chymist : welcher die in der Medicin gebräuchlichen chymischen Processe auff die leichteste und heilsamste Art machen lernt''... Aus der 9. frantzösischen Edition des 1697sten Jahres ins Teutsche übersetzet. Winckler, Dresden 169
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. * ''A compleat history of druggs : written in French by Monsieur Pomet, chief druggist to the present French king ; to which is added what is further observable on the same subject, from Messrs. Lemery and Tournefort, divided into 3 classes, vegetable, animal and mineral, with their use in physick, chymistry, pharmacy and several other arts ; done into English from the originals''. London, 171
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. * ''Farmacopea universale che contiene tutte le composizioni di farmacia le qualisono in uso nella medicina : tanto in Francia, quanto per tutta l'europa, ... e di piu un vocabolario farmaceutico, molte nuove osservazioni, ed alcuni ragionamenti sopra ogni operazione''. Venezia : Gio. Gabriel Hertz, 172
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. * ''Dictionaire, ou traité universel des drogues simples ou l’on trouve leurs differens noms, leur origine, leur choix, les principes qu’elles renferment, leurs qualitez, leur etymologie, & tout ce qu’il ya de particulier dans les animaux, dans les vegetaux, & dans les mineraux ; ouvrage dependant de la Pharmacopee universelle'' . Hofhout, Rotterdam 4.ed. 172
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. * ''Pharmacopée universelle : contenant toutes les compositions de pharmacie qui sont en usage dans la medicine, tant en France que par toute l'Europe, leurs vertus, leurs doses, les manieres d'operer les plus simples & les meilleures ; avec un lexicon pharmaceutique, plusieurs remarques nouvelles, et des raisonnemens sur chaque operation''. d’Houry, Paris 3.ed. 172
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. * ''Cours de chymie : contenant la maniere de faire les operations qui sont en usage dans la medecine, par un methode facile ; avec des raisonnemens sur chaque operation, pour l'instruction de ceux qui veulent s'appliquer a cette science''. - 11. ed. - Paris : Delespine, 1730
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. * ''Traité universel des drogues simples : mises en ordre alphabetique, ou l'on trouve leurs differens noms, leur origine, leur choix, les principes qu'elles renferment, leurs qualitez, leur etimologie, & tout ce qu'il ya de particulier dans les animaux, dans les vegetaux, & dans les mineraux ; ouvrage dependant de la Pharmacopee universelle''. d’Houry, Paris 4.ed. 173
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. * ''Nicolai Lemeri cursus chymicus, oder vollkommener Chymist : welcher die in der Medicin vorkommenden chymischen Praeparata und Processus auf die vernünfftigste, leichteste und sicherste Art zu verfertigen lehret ; aus dem Frantzösischen übersetzet.'' - ... Bey dieser 5. Aufl. aufs neue durchgesehen, corrigirt und vermehret von Johann Christian Zimmermann. - Dresden : Walther, 1754
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References

Sources

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External links

*
First chemist to study Antimony
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemery, Nicolas 1645 births 1715 deaths 18th-century French chemists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Scientists from Rouen 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers 17th-century French chemists

Life

Works

See also

References

Sources

External links