 |
Pierre BayenFrench chemist and pharmacist.
Date of Birth: 07.02.1725
Country:  France |
Content:
Biography of Pierre Bayen
Pierre Bayen was a French chemist and pharmacist who lived during the 18th century. He studied under Ruel in Paris from 1749 and later worked in the laboratory of Shamussé. It was here that his remarkable abilities in chemistry were discovered and he was tasked with researching all of France's mineral waters. Additionally, Bayen conducted studies on various minerals and rocks.
Discoveries and Publications
In 1765, Bayen published the results of his analysis on the waters of Bagnères-de-Luchon. His other works were published in the "Recueil des savants étrangers" ("Collection of Foreign Scholars"). In his research, Bayen proved the presence of magnesia in slates and developed a method for extracting it in the salt factories of Epsom and Sedlitz.
In 1781, he published a significant work on tin, where he found that tin, when transformed into its "lime" (oxide) form, increased in weight. This discovery, before Lavoisier, challenged the theory of phlogiston by suggesting that all "limes" differ from their corresponding metals due to the composition of the absorbed air in them.
Bayen also replicated Lavoisier's famous experiment on the reduction of lead oxide with coal, this time using mercury oxide. As a result, he obtained metallic mercury and found that the weight of the substance produced, together with the separated mercury, exactly matched the weight of the oxide taken. He published these findings in 1784 in the "Journal de Physique" by Abbé Rozier under the title "Essais chimiques ou expériences faites sur quelques précipites de mercure dans la vue d’en découvrir la vraie nature" ("Chemical essays or experiments carried out on some precipitates of mercury with the aim of discovering their true nature").
