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A Historical Study on the Successful Convergence Research Between Lavoisier and Laplace

  • Jung, Won (Dept. of Science Studies, Jeonbuk National Univ.)
  • Received : 2020.03.11
  • Accepted : 2020.04.10
  • Published : 2020.06.30

Abstract

The Chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace, who conducted a collaborative research on heat phenomena, are two of the key figures that represent French scientific community in the late 18th century. They joined hands together to understand heat phenomena that had not been fully explained until that time. They studied heat phenomena based on a heat particle model called 'caloric' and this study further expanded into light, magnetism and electricity, laying groundwork for many other research achievements afterwards. This article goes through their individual researches and looks into the process of their joint research based on the analysis of their publications. Further to these, it emphasizes its continuity with the Laplacian Program, a large-scale research project conducted in the early 19th century. Lastly, this article presents how science can merge with history, and at the same time, introduces the prerequisites for successful convergence research through existing research cases.

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References

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