LAVOISIER in Perspektive

This volume presents the transactions of Lavoisier in Perspective, an international symposium organized on September 12-13,2003 by the Deutsches Museum in Munich, in conjunction with both the museums own centennial celebration and the induction of a bust of Lavoisier into its Hall of Fame. It explores various aspects of Lavoisiers scientific work, as well as both its immediate and more recent impact. The volume illustrates Lavoisiers experimentalism through his use of innovative instruments, such as the calorimeter and the gasometer, and the theories which stood behind them; it is also devoted to the strategies Lavoisier adopted in order to persuade his public of the validity of the new approach to chemistry; finally it explores the image of Lavoisier in modern historiography, with particular attention to the Franco-German debate. The contributions to this volume reflect the openness of the new his-toriographical approach, and the different methodologies explored to illustrate crucial aspects of Lavoisiers work show that it is possible to celebrate an event without indulging in old-fashioned hagiographies.