万物简史英文版_比尔·布莱森-第19章

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brian　period　was　3　million；　18　million；　600　million；　794million；　or　2。4　billion鈥攐r　some　other　number　within　that　range。　as　late　as　1910；　one　of　themost　respected　estimates；　by　the　american　george　becker；　put　the　earth鈥檚　age　at　perhaps　aslittle　as　55　million　years。

just　when　matters　seemed　most　intractably　confused；　along　came　another　extraordinaryfigure　with　a　novel　approach。　he　was　a　bluff　and　brilliant　new　zealand　farm　boy　namedernest　rutherford；　and　he　produced　pretty　well　irrefutable　evidence　that　the　earth　was　at　leastmany　hundreds　of　millions　of　years　old；　probably　rather　more。

remarkably；　his　evidence　was　based　on　alchemy鈥攏atural；　spontaneous；　scientificallycredible；　and　wholly　non…occult；　but　alchemy　nonetheless。　newton；　it　turned　out；　had　not　beenso　wrong　after　all。　and　exactly　how　that　came　to　be　is　of　course　another　story。

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7　　　　ELEMENTAL　MATTERSCHEMISTRY

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as　an　earnest　and　respectable　science　is　often　said　to　date　from　1661；　whenrobert　boyle　of　oxford　published　the　sceptical　chymist　鈥攖he　first　work　to　distinguishbetween　chemists　and　alchemists鈥攂ut　it　was　a　slow　and　often　erratic　transition。　into　theeighteenth　century　scholars　could　feel　oddly　fortable　in　both　camps鈥攍ike　the　germanjohann　becher；　who　produced　an　unexceptionable　work　on　mineralogy　called　physicasubterranea　；　but　who　also　was　certain　that；　given　the　right　materials；　he　could　make　himselfinvisible。

perhaps　nothing　better　typifies　the　strange　and　often　accidental　nature　of　chemical　sciencein　its　early　days　than　a　discovery　made　by　a　german　named　hennig　brand　in　1675。　brandbecame　convinced　that　gold　could　somehow　be　distilled　from　human　urine。　（the　similarity　ofcolor　seems　to　have　been　a　factor　in　his　conclusion。）　he　assembled　fifty　buckets　of　humanurine；　which　he　kept　for　months　in　his　cellar。　by　various　recondite　processes；　he　converted　theurine　first　into　a　noxious　paste　and　then　into　a　translucent　waxy　substance。　none　of　it　yieldedgold；　of　course；　but　a　strange　and　interesting　thing　did　happen。　after　a　time；　the　substancebegan　to　glow。　moreover；　when　exposed　to　air；　it　often　spontaneously　burst　into　flame。

the　mercial　potential　for　the　stuff鈥攚hich　soon　became　known　as　phosphorus；　fromgreek　and　latin　roots　meaning　鈥渓ight　bearing鈥濃�攚as　not　lost　on　eager　businesspeople；　but　thedifficulties　of　manufacture　made　it　too　costly　to　exploit。　an　ounce　of　phosphorus　retailed　forsix　guineas鈥攑erhaps　five　hundred　dollars　in　today鈥檚　money鈥攐r　more　than　gold。

at　first；　soldiers　were　called　on　to　provide　the　raw　material；　but　such　an　arrangement　washardly　conducive　to　industrial…scale　production。　in　the　1750s　a　swedish　chemist　named　karl（or　carl）　scheele　devised　a　way　to　manufacture　phosphorus　in　bulk　without　the　slop　or　smellof　urine。　it　was　largely　because　of　this　mastery　of　phosphorus　that　sweden　became；　andremains；　a　leading　producer　of　matches。

scheele　was　both　an　extraordinary　and　extraordinarily　luckless　fellow。　a　poor　pharmacistwith　little　in　the　way　of　advanced　apparatus；　he　discovered　eight　elements鈥攃hlorine；　fluorine；manganese；　barium；　molybdenum；　tungsten；　nitrogen；　and　oxygen鈥攁nd　got　credit　for　none　ofthem。　in　every　case；　his　finds　were　either　overlooked　or　made　it　into　publication　aftersomeone　else　had　made　the　same　discovery　independently。　he　also　discovered　many　usefulpounds；　among　them　ammonia；　glycerin；　and　tannic　acid；　and　was　the　first　to　see　themercial　potential　of　chlorine　as　a　bleach鈥攁ll　breakthroughs　that　made　other　peopleextremely　wealthy。

scheele鈥檚　one　notable　shorting　was　a　curious　insistence　on　tasting　a　little　of　everythinghe　worked　with；　including　such　notoriously　disagreeable　substances　as　mercury；　prussic　acid（another　of　his　discoveries）；　and　hydrocyanic　acid鈥攁　pound　so　famously　poisonous　that150　years　later　erwin　schr？dinger　chose　it　as　his　toxin　of　choice　in　a　famous　thoughtexperiment　（see　page　146）。　scheele鈥檚　rashness　eventually　caught　up　with　him。　in　1786；　agedjust　forty…three；　he　was　found　dead　at　his　workbench　surrounded　by　an　array　of　toxicchemicals；　any　one　of　which　could　have　accounted　for　the　stunned　and　terminal　look　on　hisface。

were　the　world　just　and　swedish…speaking；　scheele　would　have　enjoyed　universal　acclaim。

instead　credit　has　tended　to　lodge　with　more　celebrated　chemists；　mostly　from　the　english…speaking　world。　scheele　discovered　oxygen　in　1772；　but　for　various　heartbreakinglyplicated　reasons　could　not　get　his　paper　published　in　a　timely　manner。　instead　credit　wentto　joseph　priestley；　who　discovered　the　same　element　independently；　but　latterly；　in　thesummer　of　1774。　even　more　remarkable　was　scheele鈥檚　failure　to　receive　credit　for　thediscovery　of　chlorine。　nearly　all　textbooks　still　attribute　chlorine鈥檚　discovery　to　humphrydavy；　who　did　indeed　find　it；　but　thirty…six　years　after　scheele　had。

although　chemistry　had　e　a　long　way　in　the　century　that　separated　newton　and　boylefrom　scheele　and　priestley　and　henry　cavendish；　it　still　had　a　long　way　to　go。　right　up　to　theclosing　years　of　the　eighteenth　century　（and　in　priestley鈥檚　case　a　little　beyond）　scientistseverywhere　searched　for；　and　sometimes　believed　they　had　actually　found；　things　that　justweren鈥檛　there：　vitiated　airs；　dephlogisticated　marine　acids；　phloxes；　calxes；　terraqueousexhalations；　and；　above　all；　phlogiston；　the　substance　that　was　thought　to　be　the　active　agentin　bustion。　somewhere　in　all　this；　it　was　thought；　there　also　resided　a　mysterious　茅lanvital；　the　force　that　brought　inanimate　objects　to　life。　no　one　knew　where　this　ethereal　essencelay；　but　two　things　seemed　probable：　that　you　could　enliven　it　with　a　jolt　of　electricity　（anotion　mary　shelley　exploited　to　full　effect　in　her　novel　frankenstein　）　and　that　it　existed　insome　substances　but　not　others；　which　is　why　we　ended　up　with　two　branches　of　chemistry：

organic　（for　those　substances　that　were　thought　to　have　it）　and　inorganic　（for　those　that　didnot）。

someone　of　insight　was　needed　to　thrust　chemistry　into　the　modern　age；　and　it　was　thefrench　who　provided　him。　his　name　was　antoine…laurent　lavoisier。　born　in　1743；　lavoisierwas　a　member　of　the　minor　nobility　（his　father　had　purchased　a　title　for　the　family）。　in　1768；he　bought　a　practicing　share　in　a　deeply　despised　institution　called　the　ferme　g茅n茅rale　（orgeneral　farm）；　which　collected　taxes　and　fees　on　behalf　of　the　government。　althoughlavoisier　himself　was　by　all　accounts　mild　and　fair…minded；　the　pany　he　worked　for　wasneither。　for　one　thing；　it　did　not　tax　the　rich　but　only　the　poor；　and　then　often　arbitrarily。　forlavoisier；　the　appeal　of　the　institution　was　that　it　provided　him　with　the　wealth　to　follow　hisprincipal　devotion；　science。　at　his　peak；　his　personal　earnings　reached　150；000　livres　a　year鈥攑erhaps　20　million　in　today鈥檚　money。

three　years　after　embarking　on　this　lucrative　career　path；　he　married　the　fourteen…year…olddaughter　of　one　of　his　bosses。　the　marriage　was　a　meeting　of　hearts　and　minds　both。　madamelavoisier　had　an　incisive　intellect　and　soon　was　working　productively　alongside　her　husband。

despite　the　demands　of　his　job　and　busy　social　life；　they　managed　to　put　in　five　hours　ofscience　on　most　days鈥攖wo　in　the　early　morning　and　three　in　the　evening鈥攁s　well　as　thewhole　of　sunday；　which　they　called　their　jour　de　bonheur　（day　of　happiness）。　somehowlavoisier　also　found　the　time　to　be　missioner　of　gunpowder；　supervise　the　building　of　awall　around　paris　to　deter　smugglers；　help　found　the　metric　system；　and　coauthor　thehandbook　m茅thode　de　nomenclature　chimique　；　which　became　the　bible　for　agreeing　on　thenames　of　the　elements。

as　a　leading　member　of　the　acad茅mie　royale　des　sciences；　he　was　also　required　to　take　aninformed　and　active　interest　in　whatever　was　topical鈥攈ypnotism；　prison　reform；　therespiration　of　insects；　the　water　supply　of　paris。　it　was　in　such　a　capacity　in　1780　thatlavoisier　made　some　dismissive　remarks　about　a　new　theory　of　bustion　that　had　beensubmitted　to　the　academy　by　a　hopeful　young　scientist。　the　theory　was　indeed　wrong；　but　thescientist　never　forgave　him。　his　name　was　jean…paul　marat。

the　one　thing　lavoisier　never　did　was　discover　an　element。　at　a　time　when　it　seemed　as　ifalmost　anybody　with　a　beaker；　a　flame；　and　some　interesting　powders　could　discoversomething　new鈥攁nd　when；　not　incidentally；　some　two…thirds　of　the　elements　were　yet　to　befound鈥攍avoisier　failed　to　uncover　a　single　one。　it　certainly　wasn鈥檛　for　want　of　beakers。

lavoisier　had　thirteen　thousand　of　them　in　what　was；　to　an　almost　preposterous　degree；　thefinest　private　laboratory　in　existence。

instead　he　took　the　discoveries　of　others　and　made　sense　of　them。　he　threw　out　phlogistonand　mephitic　airs。　he　identified　oxygen　and　hydrogen　for　what　they　were　and　gave　them　boththeir　modern　names。　in　short；　he　helped　to　bring　rigor；　clarity；　and　method　to　chemistry。

and　his　fancy　equipment　did　in　fact　e　in　very　handy。　for　years；　he　and　madamelavoisier　occupied　themselves　with　extremely　exacting　studies　requiring　the　finestmeasurements。　they　determined；　for　instance；　that　a　rusting　object　doesn鈥檛　lose　weight；　aseveryone　had　long　assumed；　but　gains　weight鈥攁n　extraordinary　discovery。　somehow　as　itrusted　the　object　was　attracting　elemental　particles　from　the　air。　it　was　the　first　realization　thatmatter　can　be　transformed　but　not　eliminated。　if　you　burned　this　book　now；　its　matter　wouldbe　changed　to　ash　and　smoke；　but　the　net　amount　of　stuff　in　the　universe　would　be　the　same。

this　became　known　as　the　conservation　of　mass；　and　it　was　a　revolutionary　concept。

unfortunately；　it　coincided　with　another　type　of　revolution鈥攖he　french　one鈥攁nd　for　this　onelavoisier　was　entirely　on　the　wrong　side。

not　only　was　he　a　member　of　the　hated　ferme　g茅n茅rale；　but　he　had　enthusiastically　builtthe　wall　that　enclosed　paris鈥攁n　edifice　so　loathed　that　it　was　the　first　thing　attacked　by　therebellious　citizens。　capitalizing　on　this；　in　1791　marat；　now　a　leading　voice　in　the　nationalassembly；　denounced　lavoisier　and　suggested　that　it　was　well　past　time　for　his　hanging。

soon　afterward　the　ferme　g茅n茅rale　was　shut　down。　not　long　after　this　marat　was　murderedin　his　bath　by　an　aggrieved　young　woman　named　charlotte　corday；　but　by　this　time　it　was　toolate　for　lavoisier。

in　1793；　the　reign　of　terror；　already　intense；　ratcheted　up　to　a　higher　gear。　in　octobermarie　antoinette　was　sent　to　the　guillotine。　the　following　month；　as　lavoisier　and　his　wifewere　making　tardy　plans　to　slip　away　to　scotland；　lavoisier　was　arrested。　in　may　he　andthirty…one　fellow　farmers…general　were　brought　before　the　revolutionary　tribunal　（in　acourtroom　presided　over　by　a　bust　of　marat）。　eight　were　granted　acquittals；　but　lavoisier　andthe　others　were　taken　directly　to　the　place　de　la　revolution　（now　the　place　de　la　concorde）；site　of　the　busiest　of　french　guillotines。　lavoisier　watched　his　father…in…law　beheaded；　thenstepped　up　and　accepted　his　fate。　less　than　three　months　later；　on　july　27；　robespierrehimself　was　dispatched　in　the　same　way　and　in　the　same　place；　and　the　reign　of　terrorswiftly　ended。

a　hundred　years　after　his　death；　a　statue　of　lavoisier　was　erected　in　paris　and　muchadmired　until　someone　pointed　out　that　it　looked　nothing　like　him。　under　questi