The Greek Financial Crisis free essay sample

Ever since the end of 2009, Greece has been involved in a financial and economic crisis that has been record breaking and shattered world records in terms of its severity and worldwide effects. The Greek government, since the beginning of the crisis, has attempted to take several governmental measures to try and â€Å"stop the bleeding,† including economy policy changes, dramatic government spending and budget cuts and the implementation of new taxes for citizens. In addition to this, the government has tried to alter the perceptions of Greek government and economy by the rest of the world in an effort to appear both more liberal and more democratic. Greece has also been working to privatize many previous state-owned corporations in a desperate effort to stabilize the currency and the economy. This paper will address the various actions taken to date by the Greek government to pull the country out of this terrible crisis, and will explore the specific factors that were causation for this horrible financial crisis. We will write a custom essay sample on The Greek Financial Crisis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is important to note that certain policies and government actions and their success is merely subject to personal opinion, but financial data and statistics is absolute and cannot be disputed regardless of personal or political beliefs. In May of 2010, Greece was awarded a 110 billion euro bailout from both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This bailout was effective only in the sense that it prevented Greece from defaulting on country debts and loans, which would have had catastrophic ripple effects on not only the Greek and European markets, but on the global markets including the United States and Asian economies. Soon after this bailout was executed, it became evidently clear to both the EU and the IMF that more money would be needed in order for Greece’s survival and for their long road to economic recovery. With that being said, a second bailout worth 109 billion Euro was given to Greece again by the EU and the IMF in late July of 2011. Of course, these bailouts have been the subject of a tremendous volume of worldwide media attention. These bailouts, along with the privatization of corporations, policy changes, capital injections and governmental changes have been implemented in hope that positive progress will be achieved. The media has successfully painted these reforms as containment methods for this huge mess, and as means of ensuring that this infected economy does as little damage as possible to other economies in the world. Some country-specific economies that are particularly unstable and thus at risk of damage from the Greek crisis are Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Although the Greek economy has received, by far, the most media attention for economic difficulties, these other four nations are experiencing serious economic problems of their own. It appears that this was a major motivating factor behind the two bailouts, that it is vitally important to contain the damage before it spreads to these other vulnerable nations, something that the European Union simply cannot afford to have happen. In the words of economic experts, â€Å"Greece is just the tip of the iceberg,† and that the economies of EU nations are more intertwined and interdependent than we would have hoped. Given that EU countries share the same currency, the Euro, continuously trade with one another, and hold massive debts for one another, this opens the EU as a whole up to tremendous vulnerability. Essentially, if Greece or any other EU nation defaults on debts, this could send the entire EU into a recession and put the banking system as a whole at risk, much like what happened in the United States in 2008. The goal of these capital injections and bailouts is for Greece to remain financially liquid for enough time to pay their outstanding debts as much has possible to neighbor countries, thus reducing the amount of government debts owed and the interconnected pressure on the entire EU to continue to bail out Greece. If Greece is able to pay back a significant enough portion of their debts, in the event that they do default on some of them, it may still be able to be contained and not infect the rest of Europe with a recession. As far as Greece’s role in creating this crisis in the first place, it can be said that Greece is at fault for a variety of reasons. The media has been focusing on the corrupt political system and infrastructure, the lack of competition in the private sector, the wastefulness and inefficiency of the public sector and a flawed tax system as causation for this mess. When the public sector was expanded in the 1980’s, Andreas Papandreou was given various agricultural subsidies and grants to do with what he pleased. This enabled the funding of certain post-World War II groups to heal political wounds and fund unions and other special interest groups to aid his political capital and strength. The policies enacted in this decade allowed for the increase in power and funding of the middle class by creating a vast amount of inefficient public sector government jobs for citizens. This resulted in an increase in the levels of inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and wasteful spending coupled with the increase in wages, pensions and benefits. This proceeded to drain through government money and resources, and did not breed a culture of highly motivated, efficient and effective government employees. A high amount of debts accumulated as the nation continued to proceed in this way, using state money to subsidize failing businesses and to finance the continued expansion of the public sector. Papandreou is continuously criticized for the creation of such a wasteful and inefficient public sector, and this is a primary reason for the economic struggles that Greece is facing today. Debt continued to build, and inefficiency continued to increase rapidly. Another important factor to discuss is the massive amounts of de-industrialization that occurred in Greece during the 1980s. This means that labor was outsourced to different countries outside of the European Union where labor costs were significant cheaper, in an attempt to reduce expense margins. Instead of investing in a strong public sector, Papandreou poured money into the private sector that was clearly diminishing in relation to other countries. As a result of this, the public sector continued to expand as a compensation method for the failing private sector. This resulted in the creation of a socialist culture in Greece, causing more and more debt to buildup to an alarming level. This wastefulness and inefficiency in the extremely large public was simply adding fuel to the fire that would come back to hurt the nation several years later, as we can see. As the level of national debt and borrowing was increasing, it can be said that the bubble began to burst in the early 2000s when the Euro was adopted in Greece. This provided Greece with an opportunity to capitalize on very low interest rates, declining from roughly 20% in the early 1990s to roughly 3. 2% in 2005. This fueled the fire in the sense of the borrowing culture that had already been in place in the Greek government for decades, as they continued to accrue an alarming amount of national debt, a terrible liability for any nation to carry. These billions of euros of debt continued to rise, and can be considered a very important factor in the current economic crisis that is occurring as a result of decades of wasteful spending and ineffective currency control by the government. Another important factor to consider when analyzing the specific reasons for Greek’s current financial crisis is the highly corrupt political system that exists in the country. Corruption and bribery play a role in Greece’s outstanding level of national debt. According to statistics, the Greek government has lost roughly 8% of GDP each year as a direct result to these unethical practices. According to the Brookings Institute, â€Å"if Greece had better control of their government corruption, it would have had a smaller budget deficit by 4% of GDP. † This fascinating data shows that the practices of this corrupt government actually contributed to Greek’s staggering amount of debt coupled with their incremental declines in GDP levels. On the topic of governmental corruption, there are two key scandals worthy of mention that clearly have contributed to the current economic turmoil Greece is currently facing. The first scandal is the Koskotas Affair, and occurred during the Papandreou administration. Mr. Koskotas was the owner of the Bank of Crete. In this scandal, he was convicted and charged with the embezzlement of $200 million dollars. In the following coverage of the scandal, it was revealed that Papandreou’s’ administration had asked for large deposits to be transferred from other banks into the Bank of Crete at a lower-than-legal interest rate. The profits from these transfers were given to the government and political parties. Although Papandreou was indicted for involvement, he was acquitted and justice was never served. This hurt both the economy and the morale of Greek citizens. The second scandal worthy of mention is the Siemens case. The executive team of Siemens paid out several million Euros in the form of bribes to several Greek politicians from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. These bribes were paid in return for the securing of government contracts in wide variety industries. The politicians involved into offshore accounts laundered the money. The two major political parties in Greece were both involved, and Siemens was fined over $1 billion dollars by the US government for its involvement in these crimes. These two massive scandals successfully illustrate the level of corruption in the Greek government, and the unethical practices that were adopted by both parties in order to remain in power. Unfortunately, in Greece it is very difficult to prosecute and charge corrupt political figures. Many politicians simply get away with the crimes they commit because their peers are not interested in prosecuting them given the immunity they are given as per the Greek Constitution. According to statistical data, no Greek minister has gone to jail since the 1970s showing Greece’s unwillingness to sentence and prosecute corrupt politicians. Obviously, this poses problems related to national accountability and furthers the distrust of the Greek government by both the citizens of Greece and by other nations in the EU and worldwide. The culture and nature of the Greek government seems to be very conducive to the acceptance of bribes, and the funding of certain special interest groups that are likely to benefit the government in some questionable way. It has been said that Andreas Papandreou created certain government jobs for the sole purpose of his own personal gains. Politicians who are running for office make all sorts of outlandish promises to different groups in order to receive support, with no intentions of actually carrying out the promises. Also, the immunity from prosecution clauses in Greek law has increased politician’s levels of recklessness. This immunity prevents politicians and executive-level government officials from prosecution for any crimes committed. This is an extremely dangerous provision in the law, because there are virtually no accountability standards and has shown to lead to aggressive and self-serving policy decisions that have had drastically negative impacts on the country and the economy. To reflect on the government style and roots of Greece, the country has been described as having â€Å"one foot in the West, and another in the East. † The country has been a synthesizing point for democracy, but ironically does not seem to display the necessary integrity and self-correction methods that are essential for the functionality of a democracy. In the words of Manolopoulous, the country â€Å"has never had a Western-style reformation, nor the development of a large middle class, nor the emergence of conservative and liberal philanthropy that developed in Western and Northern Europe and also North America. † This goes to show that while Greece has been perceived and thought of by others as a Westernized nation, it is not that simple. The inefficiency of the public sector is a recurring problem in this discussion because of its severity and enormous impact on the financial crisis that Greece is currently facing. The public sector has been characterized and defined as being â€Å"statist. † This essentially describes an environment in the country where public sector jobs are preferred as opposed to private or other types of jobs. This belief that is held by a majority of Greek citizens has been a key contributor to the inefficient and unproductive bureaucracy of government jobs and positions. This mindset also prevents Greece’s private sector from reaching its potential, and does nothing to reduce unemployment. This mindset is held partly because public sector jobs offer the things that private sector jobs cannot, including a generous pension, a pre-determined retirement age and incremental pay increases as time goes by. This creates a sense of job security, which is desired by all as part of human nature. Job security is not a bad thing, but problems clearly arise when an entire country has become dependent on the continued influx of meaningless government jobs. Individuals who work in the public sector statistically make more, on average, than those who work in the private sector. There is currently no statistical data that supports a link between worker productivity, job satisfaction and overall motivation to pay grade. This lack of an incentivized program that encourages employees to work hard is perhaps one of the biggest roots of the problem. The increases in public sector wages and pensions reached almost 9% in 2008. Even as the country’s economy continues to sink farther and farther into historic territory, jobs are not being cut and employees are continuing to receive excellent pay and benefits for their relatively meaningless low-end government positions. Another problem with Greek’s public sector is the early retirement age of 58. When an employee retires at this age, they are given a full pension and in most cases, continuing benefits for a generous period of time. To put this in perspective, the average retirement rate in the rest of the European Union is 63. This over-generous system is a major drainer of government funds. According to statistics, the pensions given to an average public-sector employee can reach up to 98% of their original salary right before retirement. The final point presented is the nearly complete level of job security within the public sector. Due to a high amount of policies and regulations about termination, it is extremely difficult for one to lose their job unless a major mistake has been made. That being said, it seems as if an overly comfortable work force has been created. There must be some degree of threat of job loss in order to motivate employees to put forth their best effort each and every day. According to Manolopoulos, there are numerous sources that display the extremely low competitiveness of the Greek economy. This is the next factor that can be discussed to illustrate the problems responsible for the current economic meltdown. According to this data, â€Å"the burden of administration in Greece is abnormally high, the degree of regulation is excessive, and the amount of competition is severely limited due to tremendous government intervention. † Also, it is shown that Greece rarely is a center of foreign investment, in relation to other nations in the European Union. It does not take an expert to determine that the Greek government and economic environment is not desirable enough for foreign nations to engage with. Since 2009, there have been more than 1,400 companies formerly with headquarters in Greece who have relocated to other nations. Currently, 20% of Greece businesses are failing or will fail at some point in the coming months. These staggering statistics go to show that these philosophies are more than conceptual, and there are actual statistics to illustrate the severity of the problems. With regard to taxation, the Greek tax system is highly progressive. A progressive tax system is a system where the smallest proportion of the population, the wealthiest individuals, pays the highest taxes. In Greece, this is the case, and in fact the average and below-average households pay virtually no taxes at all. Although this progressive system can be effective, as seen in other countries, the problem is that there are so few high earners that very little tax revenue is actually being raised. The line for which a household can declare themselves exempt is higher than most families earn, leaving very few candidates who are qualified to pay these high amounts of taxes. This threshold is 12,000 Euro per year, and has created a culture where many Greeks are understating their income in order to remain under this threshold and avoid paying taxes. The disinterest in paying taxes is inevitable in all countries, but in this situation, citizens are actually able to get away with tax evasion, adding to the problem. This goes back to the corruption of Greek politicians, and the culture deeply rooted in cheating and dishonest practices. Politicians are wise enough to know that if they crack down on tax evasions among Greek citizens, they will not be re-elected and will lose their political power, influence and immunity. For this reason, most politicians look the other way on massive amounts of tax evasions, and citizens are not forced to pay their taxes, adding to the already discussed lack of accountability. This is why the threshold for tax-exempt families is currently at such an alarming level. In the words of Manolopoulos, â€Å"the authorities proceed to hound the honest few, and let the thousands of dishonest high income individuals escape with impunity. Tax avoidance is a national pastime in Greece. It has become a cultural trait. The Greek people never learned to pay their taxes, because no one is punished. † This mindset described by Manolopoulos is at the heart of the problem, and clearly shows the unwillingness of typical Greek citizens to do their part and contribute to the overall welfare of the country. As far as reforms to try and aid the recovery of this failing economy, little has been done. The Economic Adjustment Program is essentially a program that has planned out 5-year economy strategy for the country, called the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy. This was created in 2011 and sought to increase the efficiency of public spending, eliminate wasteful spending that drains government resources, reduce the size of the public sector, broaden the base of tax payers, and eliminate the amount of individuals who are evading taxes by imposing meaningful penalties and consequences. The plan for this strategy is to increase efficiency, and further incentivize the labor force to increase how hard people work and their inclinations to give back for the greater good. This seeks to decrease the tax-free threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 euro per year. A luxury tax will be imposed on very wealthy individuals to bring in further revenue. 200 new companies have been created to bring business back to Greece. There will be an increase in the amount of audits and increased sentences for tax evaders. Although this does not fully address the power imbalance issues that are a central issue in the crisis, many are hopeful that this plan, over time will increase the output of the economy and reduce the massive deficit the country currently faces. In conclusion, these structural measures being taken have not been overly successful, but the country will benefit in the long run from them. The only reason this failing countries economy is still relatively in tact is because of the continuous capital injections from the EU and the IMF. In an effort to keep the economy relatively liquid, Greece has remained above water. It seems that the true problem at the root of this crisis is the imbalance of power, which must be addressed if full recovery is ever to be achieved. In other words, there is a long way to go for this former superpower.

Pursing a Career as a Police Officer

Pursing a Career as a Police Officer A sociology degree is a very useful and relevant degree for any career in the criminal justice field. Police officers are one great example of this. As a career that is present in every city, town, and community across the country, becoming a police officer does not usually require relocation and is it is usually always in demand. One way that a sociology degree is especially helpful to a police officer is that it allows one to examine situations with knowledge of the structural issues that surround a society. For example, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and age are all especially important for understanding specific conflict situations. Understanding the Effects Stereotypes Have It is always important to understand the effects that stereotypes have in how people perceive a community problem. Witnesses to a crime, for example, might believe a stereotype about the criminal and will therefore bias the true events. By understanding this and asking very specific questions, the police officer may be able to get an accurate depiction of the crime without any stereotyped influences. In conducting police work, it is also important to understand that communities are composed of relational networks. These networks can be especially important in both investigating crimes and in preventing criminal acts. Since police officers are constantly interacting with community members, education on how to interact with and deal with certain types of people is crucial. In fact, it is often the case that less than half of police academy training has to do with laws, legal codes, and weapons, and the majority of training is spent on human interaction. How a Sociology Degree Is Extremely Helpful This is where a sociology degree is extremely helpful. Role-playing, modeling people’s behavior, and understanding group dynamics is crucial to be a successful police officer. An understanding of cultural diversity is also important. Those going into a career in law enforcement need to learn that there are other patterns of living and officers need to learn to adapt to those patterns when they enter certain situations. Job Description The primary duty of police officers is to enforce the law. They help the community fight crime by making arrests, assisting people with emergencies, investigating crimes, helping prosecute crimes, collecting evidence, testifying in court, and writing detailed reports of crimes. Educational Requirements The educational requirements for police officers vary by city and community. Larger cities often require four-year degrees while some small communities only require a high-school diploma. However, the majority of places are now requiring formal job training, commonly an associate’s degree. Additional training is provided at a federal or state law enforcement academy after an officer is hired. Salary and Benefits Police officers entering the field can expect to earn on average between $22,000 and $26,000, however, some areas pay as low as $18,000. Salaries vary by city and region. After six years of service, police officers earn an average of $34,000 or more. Benefits are offered by the majority of police departments, which typically includes life insurance, medical benefits, and retirement plans. Other Recommendations For those thinking of entering a career as a police officer, there are some other recommendations that will help you during your career. First, it is important to understand cultural diversity and be able to adapt to different cultural contexts. Foreign language capability, especially Spanish, is nearly essential. Other languages might be emphasized according to local needs. For example, Southeast Asian languages (Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese etc.) are needed in parts of California. Computer literacy is also a must, as officers compose written reports that are transmitted directly and immediately to the department for analysis. Finally, oral communication skills are essential to conduct good community relations. Search for jobs in law enforcement or other sociology careers in your area. References Stephens, W.R. (2004). Careers in Sociology, Third Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Criminal Justice USA. (2011). Police Officer. criminaljusticeusa.com/police-officer.html

A Sample Back to School Night Agenda

A Sample Back to School Night Agenda Back to School Night is your opportunity to make a strong, positive first impression on your new students parents. Time is short, but theres a lot of information to cover so its important to make a schedule of Back to School Night activities and follow it as closely as possible. That way, you can feel confident that you will address all of the most important points, while the parents will get all of their questions answered in a friendly and orderly manner. Sample Back to School Night Schedule Use the following sample schedule of Back to School Night activities as a road-map of key points you might want to cover during your own presentation. Distribute (or display via presentation) the evenings agenda so that parents know what to expect.Briefly introduce yourself, including your educational background, teaching experience, interests, and a few friendly pieces of personal information.Give an overview of the scope and sequence of the curriculum you will be covering with the students over the course of the school year. Show textbooks and give a thumbnail sketch of what the students will know by the end of the year.Describe a typical day in your classroom as exhibited through the daily schedule. Be sure to mention which days of the week are for special activities such as physical education class or visiting the library.Mention a few important dates in the school calendar, perhaps the major vacation dates, field trips, assemblies, carnivals, etc.Review the classroom and school rules and procedures. Consider asking the parents to sign a slip that indicates their agreement to the classroom rules and corresponding consequences.T ell the parents about opportunities to volunteer in the classroom. Be specific about what you need and what various jobs entail. Let them know where the volunteer sign-up sheet is located. Allow a few minutes for the parents to ask you questions in a whole group setting. Only take time to answer questions that apply to all or most of the students. Child-specific questions should be addressed in a different format.Distribute your contact information, how you prefer to be contacted, and how the parents can expect to hear from you on a weekly or monthly basis (class newsletter, for example). Introduce the Room Parent, if applicable.Let the parents meander around the classroom for a few minutes, exploring bulletin boards and learning centers. You can even conduct a quick scavenger hunt for a fun way for parents  to explore the classroom.  And remember to encourage them to leave a little note for their children.Smile, thank everyone for coming, and relax. You did it!

An essay, critically discussing aspects of a Video Case Study Research Paper

Discussing Aspects of a Video Case Study of Either Lucys Story or Sams Story - Research Paper Example â€Å"The support and protection of children cannot be achieved by a single agency†¦ Every Service has to play its part. All staff must have placed upon them the clear expectation that their primary responsibility is to the child and his or her family† (Laming, 1999). Multi-agency approach encompasses a child’s social care services, health, police and voluntary groups, NGOs as well as parent, guardian or school’s mutual interaction. For effective implementation, such an approach requires tools and procedures like early intervention, a common assessment framework, information sharing etc. As such agencies all share the common goal of the wellbeing of the child, therefore, they should cooperate well with each other. Beckett (2007, p.110) has mentioned the list of risks indicators formulated by Greenland which lead to increased likelihood of harm in children. According to him, if parents themselves have been neglected or abused in their childhood, the mother was aged twenty or less at birth of her first born, she is a single parent, divorced, living a socially isolated life, having poor housing conditions, or using excessive alcohol or drugs then the child is likely to get affected. Similarly, the history of the child being neglected before age five or having prolonged separation from the mother is indicative of potential safety risks to the child. Most of these risk indicators are prevalent in Lucy’s case. Her mother was single, living a socially deprived life in poor vicinity. Being a drug addict she posed the real threat to her children.

Hacker Culture and Mitigation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hacker Culture and Mitigation - Assignment Example Since hackers as a collection are chiefly creative, people who describe themselves in part by rejection of normal values and operational habits, it has unusually rich and conscious tradition for global cultures (Gertz, 2012). The basis of hacker culture was born in the computer lab as a result of computer programmers doing all in their authority to request, scrounge or steel computing property. They spend hours working on a computer program while neglecting everything else. Computer network gives them a way to associate with other people with their same interest. Before the introduction of computers, hackers’ world set up and visited bullet board system, where an individual could host a bullet board system on his or her computer and let citizens dial into the organization to send message, share data among others (Pino, 2013). Not all hackers try to investigate prohibited computer systems. A number of users use their talents and knowledge to make better software and safety measures. In fact, numerous hackers who once used their power to smash into systems now put that information and cleverness to use by creating more comprehensive security events. In a way, the Internet is a combat zone among kinds of hackers. The bad guys or black hottest go through systems or multiply virus and the good guys boost defense systems and expand potent virus defense software (Holt, 2010). Hackers on both sides over powering open source software programs in which the basic code is accessible for anybody to study, share out and inform. With open course software, hackers can learn from other hackers experiences and assist each other to make programs function much in good health than they did before the introduction of the internet. Software might range from easy applications to more complex application system. Mitigation refers to the attempt to decrease loss of life and possessions by lessening the effect of a disaster. It is also taking action to ensure that the

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay Example for Free

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay There are many different types of quantitative data collection instruments and sampling methods available to researchers. The ones that I have picked for the purpose of his paper are questionnaire, sampling and surveying. Each can be a value to a researcher when completed with accuracy. Validity is the degree to which an instrument measure what it is purports to measure. Invalid instruments can lead to erroneous research conclusions, which in turn can influence educational decisions. Reliability is the internal consistency or stability of the measuring device over time (Gay, 1996). A questionnaire is a series of questions ask to the subject to get responsive directly from the subjects. Questionnaires are widely used especially in descriptive survey studies. Surveying collects factual data from participants and gain opinions. The first of two research articles I picked was â€Å"A descriptive study of workplace conflict management styles,† The study has a non-experimental, descriptive, and quantitative research design, a sample size of 103 employees working in financial, IT, academic and marketing sectors were analyzed (stratified random sampling was used for the purpose). Statistical measures like Cranach’s alpha, independent samples t test, bivariate correlation, robust tests for equality of means, multiple comparisons (Turkey HSD) and chi square tests were employed to analyze the data. Research revealed that employees of fairer sex in Indian organizations used integrating, compromising and avoiding styles of interpersonal conflict handling. Dominating and obliging styles were followed by males and same was true for all the employees as their age increased. Additionally, employees having superior income and work experience were found to be less  integrative and more dominating in their management of conflict. Further, marital status of the employees also affected the conflict handling style. Interpersonal conflict understanding is crucial for smooth functioning of the organizations. Managers today are devising innovative handling techniques as conflict poses a great challenge for them. The present study can facilitate the management practitioners in understanding the concept and its implications. (Abbas, 2012). Tukey HSD test shows that there is significant difference in dominating conflict handling style only among the undergraduate and post graduate employees (p  answers are able to give you trusted results. Using qualitative research design methods is most essential when dealing with business research. Understanding how numbers and data effect a business’ growth and production are essential in determining what is making or breaking a company’s vision. Profit is understandably the primary goal of any business; however, qualitative data is most essential when determining data on what products, programs, or ideas are attractive to a potential or current customer. Using qualitative analysis will help in making the right choices and provide quality overview for necessary adjustments. One of the largest understandings of Adobe was unmet customer needs. Their belief was that even in an age of collecting data, no light can be shed on the gap of unmet customer needs. By determining what customers needed by using surveys, collecting email comments and letters, and by communicating with people and businesses, Adobe believed that it could continuously make adjustments to their programming to satisfy the needs of customers and potential customers. Keeping the questions simple, the ideas of Adobe and its future were generated through a series of questions that customers could answer. Without going too much into detail, customers could have simple questions answered, and thus be more satisfied, which in return generated more business. Some of the sample questions derived from (adobepress.com) are as follows: â€Å"Why do customers come to the business? Why do they leave? Do customers understand what the business has to offer? Do customers want what the business has to offer? Is there anything customers want from the business that it is not providing? When analytics data shows areas of concern—for example, high drop-off rates, repeat page views, and so on—what are the reasons for the customers’ actions? Which product or service is most important to customers? The above questions were a qualitative aspect design in an attempt to conduct research and analyze that research to better serve the customer. Providing customers with a questionnaire template, allowed for millions of  reviews and feedback. Taking this research and feedback allowed Adobe to make adjustments where needed and ultimately provide the customer and or business with a better product. Updating and revamping programming through technological advancements has been key to the Adobe enterprise when satisfying its customers. The desire and key aspect of successful qualitative research is being able to see ones business and products through the eyes of the customer. When one puts his/herself in this predicament, one will see the significance of such important research and designs methods as in qualitative research analysis. References Abbas, S. M. (2012, Jul-dec). A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF WORKPLACE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES IN INDIAN ORGANIZATIONS. Retrieved from ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/1524709477?pq-origsite=summon LUND, D. A. (2013). Laird Statistics. Retrieved from Descriptive and Inferential Statistics: https://statistics.laerd.com/aboutus.php Troshani, I.R. (2007, Oct-Dec 98-105,107-111). Drivers and Inhibitors to XBRL Adoption: A Qualitative Approach to Build a Theory in Under-Researched Areas. Retrieved from International Journal of E-Business Research: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/222302520?pq-origsite=summon

Propaganda and Democracy Essay -- essays research papers

What is the impact of propaganda on our democracy? When examining the relationship between propaganda and democracy it important to define each term. Propaganda is a protean term, its definition varies widely. The word propaganda could refer simply to an active process of mass persuasion or it could carry more negative connotations. In general, a distinction is drawn between propaganda and persuasion. Like persuasion, propaganda is designed to influence opinion rather than purely communicate fact; however, there are several important differences between the two. Persuasion utilizes critical argument and weighs all sides of an issue. On the other hand, propaganda is entirely one sided. While a persuasive message works best with a focused and active recipient, propaganda depends on a mindless audience. Propaganda manipulates symbols as well as and basic human emotions and prejudices in order to influence opinion. Democracy is the form of government in which the laws and government institutions are under the control of the people. In a democracy decisions are made by the citizens or their elected representatives. Propaganda has many effects on American Democracy. Many people claim that our democracy has been â€Å"cheapened† by the media and, in particular, propaganda. Some of the negative effects of propaganda on democracy are that it prevents discourages debate and allows people to listen only to those opinions that they agree with. One of the main goals of propaganda is to preve...

Science Health and Wellness

Associate Level Material Six Dimensions of Health Worksheet Part 1 For each of the following six dimensions of health, list at least one characteristic, activity, belief, or attitude that reflects that dimension in your life. Provide a brief explanation with each example. Refer to Ch. 1 in the text for explanations of these dimensions. Physical health: Gaining weight so you need to exercise. Being out of shape hurts your heart and bones. Taking care of yourself and exercising helps the heart also.Social health: Interacting with others friends etc will help you ease your mind and take some street off yourself for example you are having issues in your relationship with your boyfriend talking to a friend will ease the stress and help you not do something and or help you take care of yourself. Intellectual health: Learning new things and expanding your mind is a real good thing. As you learn new thing you can take care of yourself and you also keep your mind flowing instead of just stuck in one situation.Environmental health: Getting out of the house and not stuck doing nothing which will also give you exercise is very healthy just like the sun gives your body some vitamins which is also healthy. Emotional health: is important because if you don’t have good emotional health you can do something harmful to yourself like suicide or even something harmful towards others. Spiritual health: In believing in something such as god or something like that is always good.In believing in something it gives you a positive outlook in things and helps you cope with things. Part 2 In approximately 125 to 200 words, describe health and wellness in your own words using the ideas and concepts for each of the six dimensions of health. I believe that each one of these is very important. I listed things in the things above which to me are important. First Physical wellness is important cause if you don’t keep your body healthy you’re going to get yourself very sick or worst.You damage yourself each and every day when you don’t do something for your body like exercise. Social wellness is interacting with friends and associating yourself with others which helps you get your feelings out and helps that you are not alone which also is connected into emotional health. A lot of people that has bad emotional issues can hurt them and or hurt others which then can also tie into intellectual health.If you learn and expand yourself with new things you can also help yourself be positive and teach yourself new things. There is also spiritual health which will help you believe in something other then what is around you like going to church or whatever your religion shall be. It helps you clear . your mind and gives you a positive boost you might needs. Environmental health helps you get out of the house so you’re not stuck and get involved in things.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier

Daniel Rutherford Jacobus Henricus Walther Hermann Nernst Reinhold Benesch & Ruth Erica Benesch Find How Oxygen is Transported in Human Body Frederick Soddy Artturi Ilmari Virtanen Louis Jacques Thenard discovers hydrogen peroxide Jbir ibn Hayyn Ya'qub Al-Kindi Paul Karrer Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier Few things are as important as water, which we know is made of oxygen and hydrogen. Did you know that Antoine Lavoisier was the discoverer of both elements? Contributions to Science Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is one of the most important scientists in the history of chemistry.He discovered elements, formulated a basic law of chemistry and helped create the metric system. During his time, people believed that when an object burns, a mysterious substance called ‘phlogiston’ was released. This was called the ‘phlogiston theory’. Lavoisier’s experiments demonstrated the contrary, i. e. when something burned, it actually absorbed something from the air, ins tead of releasing anything. He later named the ‘something’ from the air as oxygen, when he found that it combined with other chemicals to form acid. (In Greek, ‘oxy’ means sharp, referring to the sharp taste of acids. Henry Cavendish had earlier isolated hydrogen, but he called it inflammable air. Lavoisier showed that this inflammable air burned to form a colourless liquid, which turned out to be water. The Greek word for water is ‘hydro’, so the air that burned to form water was hydrogen! Lavoisier was known for his painstaking attention to detail. Whenever he made a chemical reaction, he weighed all the substances carefully before and after the reaction. He discovered that in a chemical reaction, though substances may change their chemical nature, their total mass remains the same.This is called the law of conservation of mass. His love for accuracy led to the formulation of the metric system of weights and measures – which is still i n use today. Lavoisier’s attention to detail and habit of recording everything is perhaps his most important contribution – for that is now the way science is done. Biography Lavoiser was born on 26 August 1743 in a wealthy Parisian family. He studied at the College Mazarin from 1754 to 1761. His interest in chemistry was developed as he read the works of Etienne Condillac.In 1769, he set about making a geological map of France, which was important for that country’s industrial development. In 1769, he took a government position as a tax collector in the government of King Louis XVI. In 1771, he married Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze, who is considered as an eminent scientist in her own right. She translated the works of many scientists from English and German into French, and later on, with her husband, published the Traite elementaire de chimie, often considered the first comprehensive book on the subject.In 1789, King Louis XVI was overthrown in the French Revolu tion. As Lavoisier had been a tax collector, he earned the wrath of the revolutionaries, who executed him on 8 May 1794. SOURCE: http://humantouchofchemistry. com/antoinelaurent-de-lavoisier. htm Elements and Atoms: Chapter 3 Lavoisier's Elements of Chemistry Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) has been called the founder of modern chemistry. (View a portrait of Mme. & M. Lavoisier by Jacque-Louis David at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Among his important contributions were the application of the balance and the principle of conservation of mass to chemistry, the explanation of combustion and respiration in terms of combination with oxygen rather than loss of phlogiston (See chapter 5. ), and a reform of chemical nomenclature. His Traite Elementaire de Chimie (1789), from which the present extract is taken in a contemporary translation, was a tremendously influential synthesis of his work. Lavoisier was a public servant as well as a scientist.Under the French monarchy, he was a member of the tax-collecting agency, the Ferme Generale. His work for the government included advocating rational agricultural methods and improving the manufacture of gunpowder. His service to France continued during the Revolution. He was an alternate deputy of the reconvened Estates-General in 1789, and from 1790 served on a commission charged with making weights and measures uniform across France. A Parisian by birth, Lavoisier also died in Paris, guillotined with other former members of the Ferme Generale during the Reign of Terror in May 1794.The preface to his Traite Elementaire de Chimie is a fitting selection to follow Boyle's The Sceptical Chymist because it includes the definition of element that was to dominate chemistry throughout the next century, and which is still familiar in our own day. In addition, Lavoisier's musings on the connection between science and the language which conveys its ideas remain thought-provoking, particularly in light of the writings of Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Alfred Ayer in the first half of the 20th century.Even his comments about the pedagogy of introductory chemistry take sides in a debate that remains current. Antoine Lavoisier, Preface to Elements of Chemistry translation by Robert Kerr (Edinburgh, 1790), pp. xiii-xxxvii When I began the following Work, my only object was to extend and explain more fully the Memoir which I read at the public meeting of the Academy of Science in the month of April 1787, on the necessity of reforming and completing the Nomenclature of Chemistry[1].While engaged in this employment, I perceived, better than I had ever done before, the justice of the following maxims of the Abbe de Condillac[2], in his System of Logic, and some other of his works. â€Å"We think only through the medium of words. –Languages are true analytical methods. –Algebra, which is adapted to its purpose in every species of expression, in the most simple, most exact, and best manner possible, is at the same time a language and an analytical method. –The art of reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged. † Thus, while I thought myself employed only in forming a Nomenclature, and while I roposed to myself nothing more than to improve the chemical language, my work transformed itself by degrees, without my being able to prevent it, into a treatise upon the Elements of Chemistry. The impossibility of separating the nomenclature of a science from the science itself, is owing to this, that every branch of physical science must consist of three things; the series of facts which are the objects of the science, the ideas which represent these facts, and the words by which these ideas are expressed. Like three impressions of the same seal, the word ought to produce the idea, and the idea to be a picture of the fact.And, as ideas are preserved and communicated by means of words, it necessarily follows that we cannot improve the langua ge of any science without at the same time improving the science itself; neither can we, on the other hand, improve a science, without improving the language or nomenclature which belongs to it. However certain the facts of any science may be, and, however just the ideas we may have formed of these facts, we can only communicate false impressions to others, while we want words by which these may be properly expressed. 3] To those who will consider it with attention, the first part of this treatise will afford frequent proofs of the truth of the above observations. But as, in the conduct of my work, I have been obliged to observe an order of arrangement essentially differing from what has been adopted in any other chemical work yet published, it is proper that I should explain the motives which have led me to do so. It is a maxim universally admitted in geometry, and indeed in every branch of knowledge, that, in the progress of investigation, we should proceed from known facts to wha t is unknown.In early infancy, our ideas spring from our wants; the sensation of want excites the idea of the object by which it is to be gratified. In this manner, from a series of sensations, observations, and analyses, a successive train of ideas arises, so linked together, that an attentive observer may trace back to a certain point the order and connection of the whole sum of human knowledge. When we begin the study of any science, we are in a situation, respecting that science, similar to that of children; and the course by which we have to advance is precisely the same which Nature follows in the formation of their ideas.In a child, the idea is merely an effect produced by a sensation; and, in the same manner, in commencing the study of a physical science, we ought to form no idea but what is a necessary consequence, and immediate effect, of an experiment or observation. [4] Besides, he that enters upon the career of science, is in a less advantageous situation than a child w ho is acquiring his first ideas. To the child, Nature gives various means of rectifying any mistakes he may commit respecting the salutary or hurtful qualities of the objects which surround him.On every occasion his judgments are corrected by experience; want and pain are the necessary consequences arising from false judgment; gratification and pleasure are produced by judging aright. Under such masters, we cannot fail to become well informed; and we soon learn to reason justly, when want and pain are the necessary consequences of a contrary conduct. [5] In the study and practice of the sciences it is quite different; the false judgments we form neither affect our existence nor our welfare; and we are not forced by any physical necessity to correct them.Imagination, on the contrary, which is ever wandering beyond the bounds of truth, joined to self-love and that self-confidence we are so apt to indulge, prompt us to draw conclusions which are not immediately derived from facts; so t hat we become in some measure interested in deceiving ourselves. Hence it is by no means to be wondered, that, in the science of physics in general, men have often made suppositions, instead of forming conclusions.These suppositions, handed down from one age to another, acquire additional weight from the authorities by which they are supported, till at last they are received, even by men of genius, as fundamental truths. The only method of preventing such errors from taking place, and of correcting them when formed, is to restrain and simplify our reasoning as much as possible. This depends entirely upon ourselves, and the neglect of it is the only source of our mistakes. We must trust to nothing but facts: These are presented to us by Nature, and cannot deceive.We ought, in every instance, to submit our reasoning to the test of experiment, and never to search for truth but by the natural road of experiment and observation. Thus mathematicians obtain the solution of a problem by the mere arrangement of data, and by reducing their reasoning to such simple steps, to conclusions so very obvious, as never to lose sight of the evidence which guides them. [6] Thoroughly convinced of these truths, I have imposed upon myself, as a law, never to advance but from what is known to what is unknown; never to form any conclusion which is not an immediate consequence necessarily lowing from observation and experiment; and always to arrange the fact, and the conclusions which are drawn from them, in such an order as shall render it most easy for beginners in the study of chemistry thoroughly to understand them. Hence I have been obliged to depart from the usual order of courses of lectures and of treatises upon chemistry, which always assume the first principles of the science, as known, when the pupil or the reader should never be supposed to know them till they have been explained in subsequent lessons.In almost every instance, these begin by treating of the elements of mat ter, and by explaining the table of affinities[7], without considering, that, in so doing, they must bring the principal phenomena of chemistry into view at the very outset: They make use of terms which have not been defined, and suppose the science to be understood by the very persons they are only beginning to teach. 8] It ought likewise to be considered, that very little of chemistry can be learned in a first course, which is hardly sufficient to make the language of the science familiar to the ears, or the apparatus familiar to the eyes. It is almost impossible to become a chemist in less than three or four years of constant application. These inconveniencies are occasioned not so much by the nature of the subject, as by the method of teaching it; and, to avoid them, I was chiefly induced to adopt a new arrangement of chemistry, which appeared to me more consonant to the order of Nature.I acknowledge, however, that in thus endeavouring to avoid difficulties of one kind, I have f ound myself involved in others of a different species, some of which I have not been able to remove; but I am persuaded, that such as remain do not arise from the nature of the order I have adopted, but are rather consequences of the imperfection under which chemistry still labours.This science still has many chasms, which interrupt the series of facts, and often render it extremely difficult to reconcile them with each other: It has not, like the elements of geometry, the advantage of being a complete science, the parts of which are all closely connected together: Its actual progress, however, is so rapid, and the facts, under the modern doctrine, have assumed so happy an arrangement, that we have ground to hope, even in our own times, to see it approach near to the highest state of perfection of which it is susceptible. 9] The rigorous law from which I have never deviated, of forming no conclusions which are not fully warranted by experiment, and of never supplying the absence of facts, has prevented me from comprehending in this work the branch of chemistry which treats of affinities, although it is perhaps the best calculated of any part of chemistry for being reduced into a completely systematic body.Messrs Geoffroy, Gellert, Bergman, Scheele, De Morveau, Kirwan,[10] and many others, have collected a number of particular facts upon this subject, which only wait for a proper arrangement; but the principal data are still wanting, or, at least, those we have are either not sufficiently defined, or not sufficiently proved, to become the foundation upon which to build so very important a branch of chemistry.This science of affinities, or elective attractions, holds the same place with regard to the other branches of chemistry, as the higher or transcendental geometry does with respect to the simpler and elementary part; and I thought it improper to involve those simple and plain elements, which I flatter myself the greatest part of my readers will easily under stand, in the obscurities and difficulties which still attend that other very useful and necessary branch of chemical science. Perhaps a sentiment of self-love may, without my perceiving it, have given additional force to these reflections.Mr de Morveau is at present engaged in publishing the article Affinity in the Methodical Encyclopedia; and I had more reasons than one to decline entering upon a work in which he is employed. It will, no doubt, be a matter of surprise, that in a treatise upon the elements of chemistry, there should be no chapter on the constituent and elementary parts of matter; but I shall take occasion, in this place, to remark, that the fondness for reducing all the bodies in nature to three or four elements, proceeds from a prejudice which has descended to us from the Greek Philosophers.The notion of four elements, which, by the variety of their proportions, compose all the known substances in nature, is a mere hypothesis, assumed long before the first princip les of experimental philosophy or of chemistry had any existence. In those days, without possessing facts, they framed systems; while we, who have collected facts, seem determined to reject them, when they do not agree with our prejudices.The authority of these fathers of human philosophy still carry great weight, and there is reason to fear that it will even bear hard upon generations yet to come. [11] It is very remarkable, that, notwithstanding of the number of philosophical chemists who have supported the doctrine of the four elements, there is not one who has not been led by the evidence of facts to admit a greater number of elements into their theory.The first chemists that wrote after the revival of letters, considered sulphur and salt as elementary substances entering into the composition of a great number of substances; hence, instead of four, they admitted the existence of six elements. Beccher assumes the existence of three kinds of earth, from the combination of which, i n different proportions, he supposed all the varieties of metallic substances to be produced. Stahl gave a new modification to this system; and succeeding chemists have taken the liberty to make or to imagine changes and additions of a similar nature.All these chemists were carried along by the influence of the genius of the age in which they lived, which contented itself with assertions without proofs; or, at least, often admitted as proofs the slightest degrees of probability, unsupported by that strictly rigorous analysis required by modern philosophy. [12] All that can be said upon the number and nature of elements is, in my opinion, confined to discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature. The subject only furnishes us with indefinite problems, which may be solved in a thousand different ways, not one of which, in all probability, is consistent with nature.I shall therefore only add upon this subject, that if, by the term elements, we mean to express those simple and indivisib le atoms of which matter is composed, it is extremely probable we know nothing at all about them; but, if we apply the term elements, or principles of bodies, to express our idea of the last point which analysis is capable of reaching, we must admit, as elements, all the substances into which we are capable, by any means, to reduce bodies by decomposition. 13] Not that we are entitled to affirm, that these substances we consider as simple may not be compounded of two, or even of a greater number of principles; but, since these principles cannot be separated, or rather since we have not hitherto discovered the means of separating them, they act with regard to us as simple substances, and we ought never to suppose them compounded until experiment and observation has proved them to be so. 14] The foregoing reflections upon the progress of chemical ideas naturally apply to the words by which these ideas are to be expressed. Guided by the work which, in the year 1787, Messrs de Morveau, Berthollet, de Fourcroy, and I composed upon the Nomenclature of Chemistry, I have endeavoured, as much as possible, to denominate simple bodies by simple terms, and I was naturally led to name these first. 15] It will be recollected, that we were obliged to retain that name of any substance by which it had been long known in the world, and that in two cases only we took the liberty of making alterations; first, in the case of those which were but newly discovered, and had not yet obtained names, or at least which had been known but for a short time, and the names of which had not yet received the sanction of the public; and, secondly, when the names which had been adopted, whether by the ancients or the moderns, appeared to us to express evidently false ideas, when they confounded the substances, to which they were applied, with others possessed of different, or perhaps opposite qualities. We made no scruple, in this case, of substituting other names in their room, and the greatest number of these were borrowed from the Greek language. We endeavoured to frame them in such a manner as to express the most general and the most characteristic quality of the substances; and this was attended with the additional advantage both of assisting the memory of beginners, who find it difficult to remember a new word which has no meaning, and of accustoming them early to admit no word without connecting with it some determinate idea. 16] To those bodies which are formed by the union of several simple substances we gave new names, compounded in such a manner as the nature of the substances directed; but, as the number of double combinations is already very considerable, the only method by which we could avoid confusion, was to divide them into classes. In the natural order of ideas, the name of the class or genus is that which expresses a quality common to a great number of individuals: The name of the species, on the contrary, expresses a quality peculiar to certain individ uals only. [17] These distinctions are not, as some may imagine, merely metaphysical, but are established by Nature. A child,† says the Abbe de Condillac, â€Å"is taught to give the name tree to the first one which is pointed out to him. The next one he sees presents the same idea, and he gives it the same name. This he does likewise to a third and a fourth, till at last the word tree, which he first applied to an individual, comes to be employed by him as the name of a class or a genus, an abstract idea, which comprehends all trees in general. But, when he learns that all trees serve not the same purpose, that they do not all produce the same kind of fruit, he will soon learn to distinguish them by specific and particular names. † This is the logic of all the sciences, and is naturally applied of chemistry.The acids, for example, are compounded of two substances, of the order of those which we consider as simple; the one constitutes acidity, and is common to all acids , and, from this substance, the name of the class or the genus ought to be taken; the other is peculiar to each acid, and distinguishes it from the rest, and from this substance is to be taken the name of the species. But, in the greatest number of acids, the two constituent elements, the acidifying principle, and that which it acidifies, may exist in different proportions, constituting all the possible points of equilibrium or of saturation. This is the case in the sulphuric and the sulphurous acids; and these two states of the same acid we have marked by varying the termination of the specific name. Metallic substances which have been exposed to the joint action of the air and of fire, lose their metallic lustre, increase in weight, and assume an earthy appearance.In this state, like the acids, they are compounded of a principle which is common to all, and one which is peculiar to each. In the same way, therefore, we have thought proper to class them under a generic name, derived from the common principle; for which purpose, we adopted the term oxyd; and we distinguish them from each other by the particular name of the metal to which each belongs. [18] Combustible substances, which in acids and metallic oxyds are a specific and particular principle, are capable of becoming, in their turn, common principles of a great number of substances. The sulphurous combinations have been long the only known ones in this kind.Now, however, we know, from the experiments of Messrs Vandermonde, Monge, and Berthollet, that charcoal may be combined with iron, and perhaps with several other metals; and that, from this combination, according to the proportions, may be produced steel, plumbago, &c. [19] We know likewise, from the experiments of M. Pelletier, that phosphorus may be combined with a great number of metallic substances. These different combinations we have classed under generic names taken from the common substance, with a termination which marks this analogy, speci fying them by another name taken from that substance which is proper to each. The nomenclature of bodies compounded of three simple substances was attended with still greater difficulty, not only on account of their number, but, particularly, because we cannot express the nature of their constituent principles without employing more compound names.In the bodies which form this class, such as the neutral salts, for instance, we had to consider, 1st, The acidifying principle, which is common to them all; 2d, The acidifiable principle which constitutes their peculiar acid; 3d, The saline, earthy, or metallic basis, which determines the particular species of salt. Here we derived the name of each class of salts from the name of the acidifiable principle common to all the individuals of that class; and distinguished each species by the name of the saline, earthy, or metallic basis, which is peculiar to it. [20] A salt, though compounded of the same three principles, may, nevertheless, by the mere difference of their proportion, be in three different states.The nomenclature we have adopted would have been defective, had it not expressed these different states; and this we attained chiefly by changes of termination uniformly applied to the same state of the different salts. In short, we have advanced so far, that from the name alone may be instantly found what the combustible substance is which enters into any combination; whether that combustible substance be combined with the acidifying principle, and in what proportion; what is the state of the acid; with what basis it is united; whether the saturation be exact, or whether the acid or the basis be in excess. It may be easily supposed that it was not possible to attain all these different objects without departing, in some instances, from established custom, and adopting terms which at first sight will appear uncouth and barbarous.But we considered that the ear is soon habituated to new words, especially when they are connected with a general and rational system. The names, besides, which were formerly employed, such as powder of algaroth, salt of alembroth, pompholix, phagadenic water, turbith mineral, colcothar, and many others, were neither less barbarous nor less uncommon. [21] It required a great deal of practice, and no small degree of memory, to recollect the substances to which they were applied, much more to recollect the genus of combination to which they belonged. The names of oil of tartar per deliquium, oil of vitriol, butter of arsenic and of antimony, flowers of zinc, &c. ere still more improper, because they suggested false ideas: For, in the whole mineral kingdom, and particularly in the metallic class, there exists no such thing as butters, oils, or flowers; and, in short, the substances to which they give these fallacious names, are nothing less than rank poisons. [22] When we published our essay on the nomenclature of chemistry, we were reproached for having changed the la nguage which was spoken by our masters, which they distinguished by their authority, and handed down to us. But those who reproach us on this account, have forgotten that it was Bergman and Macquer themselves who urged us to make this reformation. In a letter which the learned Professor of Upsal, M. Bergman, wrote, a short time before he died, to M. de Morveau, he bids him spare no improper names; those who are learned, will always be learned, and those who are ignorant will thus learn sooner. 23] There is an objection to the work which I am going to present to the public, which is perhaps better founded, that I have given no account of the opinion of those who have gone before me; that I have stated only my own opinion, without examining that of others. By this I have been prevented from doing that justice to my associates, and more especially to foreign chemists, which I wished to render them. But I beseech the reader to consider, that, if I had filled an elementary work with a mu ltitude of quotations; if I had allowed myself to enter into long dissertations on the history of the science, and the works of those who have studied it, I must have lost sight of the true object I had in view, and produced a work, the reading of which must have been extremely tiresome to beginners.It is not to the history of the science, or of the human mind, that we are to attend in an elementary treatise:[24] Our only aim ought to be ease and perspicuity, and with the utmost care to keep every thing out of view which might draw aside the attention of the student; it is a road which we should be continually rendering more smooth, and from which we should endeavour to remove every obstacle which can occasion delay. The sciences, from their own nature, present a sufficient number of difficulties, though we add not those which are foreign to them. But, besides this, chemists will easily perceive, that, in the fist part of my work, I make very little use of any experiments but those which were made by myself: If at any time I have adopted, without acknowledgment, the experiments or the opinions of M. Berthollet, M. Fourcroy, M. de la Place, M.Monge, or, in general, of any of those whose principles are the same with my own, it is owing to the circumstance, that frequent intercourse, and the habit of communicating our ideas, our observations, and our way of thinking to each other, has established between us a sort of community of opinions, in which it is often difficult for every one to know his own. [25] The remarks I have made on the order which I thought myself obliged to follow in the arrangement of proofs and ideas, are to be applied only to the first part of this work. It is the only one which contains the general sum of the doctrine I have adopted, and to which I wished to give a form completely elementary. 26] The second part is composed chiefly of tables of the nomenclature of the neutral salts. To these I have only added general explanations, the object of which was to point out the most simple processes for obtaining the different kinds of known acids. This part contains nothing which I can call my own, and presents only a very short abridgment of the results of these processes, extracted from the works of different authors. In the third part, I have given a description, in detail, of all the operations connected with modern chemistry. I have long thought that a work of this kind was much wanted, and I am convinced it will not be without use.The method of performing experiments, and particularly those of modern chemistry, is not so generally known as it ought to be; and had I, in the different memoirs which I have presented to the Academy, been more particular in the detail of the manipulations of my experiments, it is probable I should have made myself better understood, and the science might have made a more rapid progress. The order of the different matters contained in this third part appeared to me to be almost arbitrary; an d the only one I have observed was to class together, in each of the chapters of which it is composed, those operations which are most connected with one another. I need hardly mention that this part could not be borrowed from any other work, and that, in the principal articles it contains, I could not derive assistance from any thing but the experiments which I have made myself.I shall conclude this preface by transcribing, literally, some observations of the Abbe de Condillac, which I think describe, with a good deal of truth, the state of chemistry at a period not far distant from our own. These observations were made on a different subject; but they will not, on this account, have less force, if the application of them be thought just. [27] â€Å"Instead of applying observation to the things we wished to know, we have chosen rather to imagine them. Advancing from one ill founded supposition to another, we have at last bewildered ourselves amidst a multitude of errors. These err ors becoming prejudices, are, of course, adopted as principles, and we thus bewilder ourselves more and more. The method, too, by which we conduct our reasonings is as absurd; we abuse words which we do not understand, and call this the art of reasoning.When matters have been brought this length, when errors have been thus accumulated, there is but one remedy by which order can be restored to the faculty of thinking; this is, to forget all that we have learned, to trace back our ideas to their source, to follow the train in which they rise, and, as my Lord Bacon says, to frame the human understanding anew. â€Å"This remedy becomes the more difficult in proportion as we think ourselves more learned. Might it not be thought that works which treated of the sciences with the utmost perspicuity, with great precision and order, must be understood by every body? The fact is, those who have never studied any thing will understand them better than those who have studied a great deal, and e specially those who have written a great deal. At the end of the fifth chapter, the Abbe de Condillac adds: â€Å"But, after all, the sciences have made progress, because philosophers have applied themselves with more attention to observe, and have communicated to their language that precision and accuracy which they have employed in their observations: In correcting their language they reason better. † Antoine Lavoisier, Table of Simple Substances in Elements of Chemistry translation by Robert Kerr (Edinburgh, 1790), pp. 175-6 Simple substances belonging to all the kingdoms of nature, which may be considered as the elements of bodies. New Names. | Correspondent old Names. | Light[28]| Light. | Caloric| Heat. | | Principle or element of heat. | | Fire. Igneous fluid. | Matter of fire and of heat. | Oxygen[29]| Depholgisticated air. | | Empyreal air. | | Vital air, or | | Base of vital air. | Azote[30]| Phlogisticated air or gas. | | Mephitis, or its base. | Hydrogen[31]| Infl ammable air or gas, | | or the base of inflammable air. | Oxydable[32] and Acidifiable simple Substances not Metallic. New Names. | Correspondent old names. | Sulphur| The same names. | Phosphorus | | Charcoal | | Muriatic radical[33]| Still unknown. | Fluoric radical | | Boracic radical| | Oxydable and Acidifiable simple Metallic Bodies. New Names. | Correspondent Old Names. | Antimony| Regulus[34] of| Antimony. | Arsenic| † â€Å"| Arsenic |Bismuth| † â€Å"| Bismuth | Cobalt| † â€Å"| Cobalt | Copper| † â€Å"| Copper | Gold| † â€Å"| Gold | Iron| † â€Å"| Iron | Lead| † â€Å"| Lead | Manganese| † â€Å"| Manganese | Mercury| † â€Å"| Mercury | Molybdena[35]| † â€Å"| Molybdena | Nickel| † â€Å"| Nickel | Platina| † â€Å"| Platina | Silver| † â€Å"| Silver | Tin| † â€Å"| Tin | Tungstein[36]| † â€Å"| Tungstein | Zinc| † â€Å"| Zinc| Salifiable simple Earthy Substances[37] New Names. | Correspondent Old Names. | Lime| Chalk, calcareous earth. | | Quicklime. | Magnesia| Magnesia, base of Epsom salt. | | Calcined or caustic magnesia. | Barytes| Barytes, or heavy earth. | Argill| Clay, earth of alum. | Silex| Siliceous or vitrifiable earth. |Notes [1]Lavoisier read â€Å"Methode de Nomenclature Chimique† before the French Academy on 18 April 1787. This outline for a reformulation of chemical nomenclature was prepared by Lavoisier and three of his early converts to the oxygen theory of combustion, Louis Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Claude Louis Berthollet, and Antoine Francois de Fourcroy. De Morveau had already argued for a reformed nomenclature, and he developed the April 1787 outline in a memoir read to the Academy on 2 May 1787. [Leicester & Klickstein 1952] [2]Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (1715-1780) was a French philosopher and associate of Rousseau, Diderot, and the Encyclopedists.His La Logique (1780) stressed the importance of language as a tool in scientific and logical reasoning. [3]Lavoisier makes an excellent point, but he overstates it. Clearly ones ideas are not strictly limited or determined by one's language. New ideas must exist before new terms can be coined to express those ideas; thus new ideas can be formed and even to some extent described under the sway of older language. Also, new terms can only be defined by reference to pre-existing terms. Sometimes new terms are not necessary, as old terms absorb new meanings. For example, I hope that the selections in this book show to some extent how the terms â€Å"atom† and â€Å"element† have changed in meaning over time.Having made these points, I do not wish to minimize the ability of new terminology to help the mind to run along the path of new insights, or to prevent it from falling into old misconceptions. [4]Note that Lavoisier does not say merely that we ought not believe any idea but what follows immediately and necessarily f rom experiment, we ought not even form the idea. This statement shows a wariness of hypotheses common to many early scientists and natural philosophers. Compare Newton's, â€Å"I frame no hypotheses; for †¦ hypotheses †¦ have no place in experimental philosophy. † [in Bartlett 1980] Hypotheses had no part in the empirical methodology of Francis Bacon (1561-1626; see portrait at National Portrait Gallery, London), which emphasized collection and classification of facts. This aversion to hypotheses is too not urprising if one considers that empiricists were attempting to distance themselves from rationalism. Later formulations of the scientific method, however, acknowledge the utility of hypotheses, always treated as provisional, in both suggesting experiments and interpreting them. [5]Lavoisier was not the last to observe that children are born scientists who learn by experience. [6]Lavoisier's choice of mathematics as an example may strike a modern reader as odd. Wh ile mathematics has long served as an example of the kind of certainty to which scientists aspire (â€Å"mathematical certainty†), it is now seen as based on axioms, not empirically based.Such mathematical systems as non-Euclidean geometry, which seemed to disagree with observed reality, had not yet been constructed at the time of Lavoisier's writing, though. [7]A table of affinities was a summary of a great deal of information on chemical reactions. It lists what substances react chemically with a given substance, often in order of the vigor or extent of the reaction. (If substance A reacted more strongly than substance B with a given material, then substance A was said to have a greater affinity than B for that material. ) View a table of affinities by Etienne-Francois Geoffroy (1672-1731). [8]In Lavoisier's mind, it makes no sense to jump to this summary table without first describing the various substances and their characteristic reactions.The proper role of descriptive chemistry in the chemical curriculum continues to be a topic of debate in chemical education. Apparently Lavoisier would be quite sympathetic to the charge that introductory courses emphasize unifying principles at the expense of descriptive chemistry. [9]This is certainly an optimistic statement! Two hundred years later chemistry has developed to an extent Lavoisier could not have imagined, yet it is a rare and foolish chemist who expects the science to exhaust its possibilities for discovery within a lifetime. [10]Bergman, Scheele, De Morveau, and Kirwan were all contemporaries of Lavoisier. The Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had a hand in the discovery of oxygen, chlorine, and manganese.The Swedish chemist and mineralogist Torbern Bergman made contributions to analytical chemistry and the classification of minerals. Richard Kirwan was an Irish chemist and a defender of the phlogiston theory. [11]The influence of the ancients was on the decline when Lavoisier wrote these wor ds, but he does not exaggerate the importance of their thought. Remember that he is still concerned about their influence more than a century after The Sceptical Chymist and more than two millennia after the death of Aristotle. (See chapters 1 and 2. ) The simplicity of ancient ideas of matter would continue to have an influence on chemists well after Lavoisier's time, particularly as the number of chemical elements grew. (See chapter 10. [12]Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) and Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) were the two men most closely associated with the phlogiston theory. Lavoisier was largely responsible for dislodging and discrediting the notion that combustion and respiration involved a loss of a subtle material called phlogiston. (See chapter 5. ) Lavoisier makes light of their ideas here, but the theory, though incorrect, was not as nonsensical as it may now appear. [13]Notice the pragmatism of Lavoisier's approach: he suggests, in essence, forgetting about the ultimate bu ilding blocks of matter. This was a prudent recommendation, for he had no way of addressing that subject empirically (which is why he dismisses it as metaphysical).He continues by suggesting that chemists turn their attention to what they can observe empirically, the ultimate products of chemical analysis. The definition of an element as a body which cannot be broken down further by chemical analysis is an operational one: as the techniques of chemical analysis improved, then substances scientists had any right to regard as elements could change. At first, this definition of element appears to be similar to that of Boyle. (See chapter 2, note 9. ) However, Boyle seemed not to consider elementary substances which were not components of all compound matter. [14]Lavoisier's table of simple bodies, reproduced below the preface, follows this prescription approximately, but not exactly. See note 33 below. ) [15]See note 34 below on names of metals. [16]Thus, where possible the name of a c hemical substance should not simply be an arbitrary word, but should give some information about the substance. This principle is particularly evident in the modern systematic nomenclature of organic compounds: the name enables one who knows the rules of nomenclature and some organic chemistry to draw the structural formula of a compound from its name. (See IUPAC 1979, 1993. ) The principle is also evident in the nomenclature of inorganic compounds [IUPAC 1971], the class of compounds Lavoisier's nomenclature primarily addresses. It is least vident in modern names of the elements, many of which are named after important scientists (e. g. curium, mendelevium, rutherfordium) or places important to the discoverers (e. g. polonium). (See Ringnes 1989 for etymology of elements' names. ) Ironically, Lavoisier coined the name for an element central to his contributions to chemistry, a name of Greek origin chosen to convey information about the element which turned out to be incorrect. The name â€Å"oxygen† means â€Å"acid former,† for Lavoisier believed that oxygen was a component of all acids. [17]Already we see the close connection Lavoisier envisioned between the language of chemistry and the content of the science.The system of naming compounds depends on classifying those compounds. Compounds belonging to the same class would have similar names. The name would also reflect the chemical composition of the substance. [18]So the classes of compounds included acids, oxides, sulfides, and the like. To specify which acid, a particular name was added, e. g. nitrous acid. Different suffixes distinguished between similar particular names (such as sulfuric and sulfurous–the -ic suffix applying to the more highly oxidized form). [19]What Lavoisier has in mind is a class of materials now called carbides, inorganic compounds of a metal and carbon (â€Å"charcoal†). But the examples he gives are not carbides.Steel is an alloy (a mixture or soluti on of metals, and therefore not a chemical compound of definite proportions); in particular, steel is principally iron with some carbon and sometimes other metals (such as chromium or manganese). Although plumbago has been used to refer to a variety of lead-containing substances (as might be guessed from the root plumb-), it also (as here) refers to the substance now called graphite, the form of carbon commonly used for pencil â€Å"leads. † [20]Again in the case of salts we see the nomenclature embodying the principles of the chemical theory of the day. A salt was seen as a compound of an acid and a base, and an acid itself a compound of an acidifiable part and an acidifying part.The acidifying part, whatever its nature, was believed to be common to all acids; since it would not distinguish one salt from another, it does not appear in the name of the salt. The salts, then, carry the name of the acidifiable piece and the base with which it combines. [21]Pompholix was a crude (i. e. , not very pure) zinc oxide (ZnO), sometimes known by the more pleasant but hardly more informative name flowers of zinc. Phagadenic water was a corrosive liquid used to cleanse ulcers; phagadenic refers to a spreading or â€Å"eating† ulcer. Colcothar is a brownish-red mixture containing primarily ferric oxide (Fe2O3) with some calcium sulfate (CaSO4). [Oxford 1971] [22]Oil of vitriol is sulfuric acid, a viscous liquid.Butter of arsenic (arsenic trichloride) is an oily liquid; and butter of antimony (antimony trichloride) is a colorless deliquescent solid. In one sense, these names are informative, for they suggest the physical appearance of the substances they name; they are, however, also misleading in the sense Lavoisier points out. [23]Lavoisier recognizes that even the most rationally designed nomenclature would be useless if chemists chose not to use it. A language is one of the most visible signs of a people and culture; naturally, efforts to tamper with it can meet with disapproval. Thus Lavoisier pays at least nominal attention to aesthetic and cultural considerations, noting just above that the new terms sound no more â€Å"barbarous† than some technical terms then in existence.In a similar vein, he makes a concession to linguistic conservatism still further above, where he indicates that he does not propose to displace familiar names, at least for elements. And here he concedes that one ought not lightly to tamper with language, but that in doing so he is responding to a need and a demand. [24]Chemistry curricula in general devote little time to the history of the science, and that little usually consists of anecdotes scattered among other material. Discoverers of laws and elements may be mentioned; the pathways of discovery, however, let alone false steps on those pathways, almost never are. (See, however, Giunta 2001. In my opinion, the teaching of scientific process (as opposed to content) suffers as a result. The emphasis o n current content to the exclusion of historical material, however, itself has a long history and such distinguished advocates as Lavoisier. [25]The standards for crediting others for their ideas, particularly when they are similar to one's own, were not as stringent in Lavoisier's time as in our own. And yet Lavoisier was criticized even by contemporaries for failing to give what they believed to be sufficient credit. For instance, Joseph Priestley did not believe Lavoisier gave him sufficient credit for the discovery of â€Å"dephlogisticated air† (oxygen) when he described his own similar experiments [Conant 1957].And Lavoisier's failure to credit James Watt and Henry Cavendish for their insights into the compound nature of water were a part of the sometimes rancorous â€Å"water controversy† [Ihde 1964]. See chapters 4 and 6 for articles on these subjects. [26]The first part of the treatise deals with gases, caloric, and the combustion of elements, so it truly cont ains the work most closely associated with Lavoisier. [27]Indeed, these words, which advocate empirical observation over rationalism as the source of reliable knowledge, apply to any science. [28]Light and caloric are not found on modern tables of elements because they are even matter, let alone elements of material bodies.Although a wave theory of light had been proposed by this time (by Christiaan Huygens), Newton's corpuscular (particle) theory was widely accepted until the 19th century. Similarly, until the 19th century, heat was widely believed to be a material, a fluid which flowed out of hot bodies and into cold ones (even though mechanical theories of heat with a Newtonian pedigree also existed at this time). See chapter 5, note 17 for a description of Lavoisier's thinking about heat and fire. ) [29]As mentioned above, the name oxygen means â€Å"acid former,† for Lavoisier believed (incorrectly) that oxygen was a component of all acids. Oxygen was a relatively recent ly discovered substance, and it did not have a standard name.The various names used for it are descriptive, but clumsy. â€Å"Dephlogisticated air† is particularly objectionable, for it described oxygen in terms of the phlogistion theory, which Lavoisier was in the process discrediting. [30]The name azote and the current name nitrogen were both used in English from the time of Lavoisier into the 19th century. Azote means â€Å"lifeless,† for breathing nitrogen does not sustain life. [31]Hydrogen means â€Å"water former,† for water results from the burning of hydrogen. (See chapter 6. ) Hydrogen was one of several gases discovered in the 18th century. The names then in use for it were informative, denoting its flammability. [32]I. e. substances which can be oxidized (combined with oxygen). [33]These three radicals or â€Å"roots† had not yet been isolated or properly characterized. The fluoric radical, now called fluorine, is the root of fluorspar and oth er fluorine-containing minerals. Fluorine is very difficult to separate from its compounds, and is a very reactive and dangerous gas in its elemental form. This gas was not isolated until 1886. The boracic radical, now called boron, is the root of the mineral borax (Na2B4O7); boron was not isolated until 1808. [Weeks & Leicester, 1968] Muriatic acid was the name then in use for what we call hydrochloric acid or hydrogen chloride, HCl.Chlorine, the element which distinguishes this acid from others, was discovered by Carl Wilhelm Scheele; however, he named it oxymuriatic acid, believing it to be a compound containing oxygen. Muriatic radical, then, was the name for the hypothetical element believed to be combined with oxygen in oxymuriatic acid. Muriatic, by the way, means â€Å"pertaining to †¦ brine or salt† [Oxford 1971]; the salt of muriatic acid is common table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl). Lavoisier had good reason to expect that these radicals would be isolated, for their compounds had been known for a long time; however, the fluoric and boracic radicals were, strictly speaking, hypothetical substances at this time, and the basis of muriatic acid had already been isolated but he did not recognize it as elementary.Had he kept strictly to the principle of considering a substance an element if it could not be further decomposed, then Lavoisier should also have included â€Å"oxymuriatic acid† (undoubtedly by a different name) among the elements; as it was, chlorine was named and recognized to be elementary only in 1810 [Davy 1810, 1811]. Although we can see, with hindsight, that Lavoisier was incorrect, it was by no means obvious at the time. Chlorine had been prepared from reactions with substances that do contain oxygen, for example from pyrolusite (MnO2) in Scheele's original isolation and from aqueous muriatic acid (HCl). [34]Until the phlogiston theory was discarded, metals were commonly regarded as compounds of their minerals ( "earths†) and phlogiston. This idea was incorrect, but it seemed to make sense, for the earths or ores seemed to be more fundamental than the metals.After all, the earths were found readily in nature, but to obtain the metals one had to heat the earths strongly in the presence of charcoal. In any event, the metal came to be known as the regulus of the mineral; for example, the name antimony was originally applied to an antimony sulfide, Sb2S3, and the metal was called regulus of antimony. Lavoisier drops the term regulus, giving the simple body (the metal) the simple, unmodified term. [35]The element is now known as molybdenum. Similarly Lavoisier's platina is now called platinum. The ending is important: the -um ending now denotes a metal, while the -a ending denotes an oxide of that metal. [36]Now tungsten. [37]All of these â€Å"earthy substances† proved to be compounds.Their elements were first isolated in the early 19th century. Of course, Lavoisier was justified i n including them among his elements, for none of them had yet been broken down into anything simpler. Two interesting omissions from this table are soda and potash, comounds of sodium and potassium known since antiquity but whose elementary metals had not yet been extracted. One might have expected Lavoisier to list such substances either here or with the hypothesized radicals (note 33). Chalk frequently refered to calcium carbonate (CaCO3), but apparently it was also used for calcium oxide [Oxford 1971]. Magnesia is magnesium oxide, MgO. (See note 35. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, MgSO4, so named for the location (an English town) of a mineral spring from which the salt was obtained. Barytes is barium oxide, BaO. Argill or argil is an aluminum-containing potters' clay. Alum is a transparent aluminum-containing mineral, AlK(SO4)2. 12H2O. Humphry Davy was the first to isolate calcium, magnesium, barium, [Davy 1808b] sodium, and potassium [Davy 1808a]; he was also a co-discoverer o f boron [Davy 1809] and he recognized chlorine to be an element (note 34). Vitrifiable means able to be made into glass; indeed, common glass is mainly silicon dioxide. [Weeks & Leicester 1968] Source: http://web. lemoyne. edu/~giunta/ea/lavprefann. html Antoine-Laurent LavoisierAntoine-Laurent Lavoisier. Line engraving by Louis Jean Desire Delaistre, after a design by Julien Leopold Boilly. Courtesy Blocker History of Medicine Collections, Moody Medical Library, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. The son of a wealthy Parisian lawyer, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) completed a law degree in accordance with family wishes. His real interest, however, was in science, which he pursued with passion while leading a full public life. On the basis of his earliest scientific work, mostly in geology, he was elected in 1768—at the early age of 25—to the Academy of Sciences, France’s most elite scientific society.In the same year he bought i nto the Ferme Generale, the private corporation that collected taxes for the Crown on a profit-and-loss basis. A few years later he married the daughter of another tax farmer, Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, who was not quite 14 at the time. Madame Lavoisier prepared herself to be her husband’s scientific collaborator by learning English to translate the work of British chemists like Joseph Priestley and by studying art and engraving to illustrate Antoine-Laurent’s scientific experiments. In 1775 Lavoisier was appointed a commissioner of the Royal Gunpowder and Saltpeter Administration and took up residence in the Paris Arsenal.There he equipped a fine laboratory, which attracted young chemists from all over Europe to learn about the â€Å"Chemical Revolution† then in progress. He meanwhile succeeded in producing more and better gunpowder by increasing the supply and ensuring the purity of the constituents—saltpeter (potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoalà ¢â‚¬â€as well as by improving the methods of granulating the powder. Characteristic of Lavoisier’s chemistry was his systematic determination of the weights of reagents and products involved in chemical reactions, including the gaseous components, and his underlying belief that matter—identified by weight—would be conserved through any reaction (the law of conservation of mass).Among his contributions to chemistry associated with this method were the understanding of combustion and respiration as caused by chemical reactions with the part of the air (as discovered by Priestley) that he named â€Å"oxygen,† and his definitive proof by composition and decomposition that water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen. His giving new names to substances—most of which are still used today—was an important means of forwarding the Chemical Revolution, because these terms expressed the theory behind them. In the case of oxygen, from the Greek meaning â₠¬Å"acid-former,† Lavoisier expressed his theory that oxygen was the acidifying principle. He considered 33 substances as elements—by his definition, substances that chemical analyses had failed to break down into simpler entities.Ironically, considering his opposition to phlogiston (see Priestley), among these substances was caloric, the unweighable substance of heat, and possibly light, that caused other substances to expand when it was added to them. To propagate his ideas, in 1789 he published a textbook, Traite Elementaire de chimie, and began a journal, Annales de Chimie, which carried research reports about the new chemistry almost exclusively. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier conducts an experiment on human respiration in this drawing made by his wife, who depicted herself at the table on the far right. Courtesy Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Pennsylvania Library.A political and social liberal, Lavoisier took an ac tive part in the events leading to the French Revolution, and in its early years he drew up plans and reports advocating many reforms, including the establishment of the metric system of weights and measures. Despite his eminence and his services to science and France, he came under attack as a former farmer-general of taxes and was guillotined in 1794. A noted mathematician, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, remarked of this event, â€Å"It took them only an instant to cut off that head, and a hundred years may not produce another like it. † Source: http://www. chemheritage. org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/early-chemistry-and-gases/lavoisier. aspx Others: http://preparatorychemistry. com/Bishop_nomenclature_help. htm