Gunpowder, the French Revolution, and the DuPont framework

- Antoine Lavoisier, considered the father … of modern chemistry, was instrumental in disproving … the ancient alchemist notion that all mater … is composed of different mixtures … of Earth, air, fire, and water. … - He is most famous for analyzing and naming … the element oxygen and for writing the first textbook … on modern chemistry in 1789. … - Lavoisier was also excellent practical chemist. … His research on combustion enabled France … to have the best gunpowder in Europe. … - But he fell out of favor during the French Revolution, … partly because he'd been a tax collector … in pre-revolutionary days, and ultimately was beheaded. … - The French mathematician, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, … said this of Lavoisier untimely death at age 51, … "It took but a moment to cut off that head, … "though a hundred years perhaps will be required … "to produce another like it." … - Now one of Lavoisier's students was a young man … named E.I. du Pont, I won't try to pronounce … his entire French name, who immigrated to the United States …