Lavoisier and the improvement of gunpowder production (*)
Seymour H. Mauskopf (**)
examiné.
of
Lavoisier's activities as a member of the Régie des poudres (1775-1792) have long been recognized as perhaps the most significant aspect of the practical and institutional side of his scientific
(*) A version of this paper, under the title, « The Chemists and the Régie des poudres », was given in 1989 at the session, « Chemistry : Revolution or Evolution? » of the Summer Meeting of the British Society for the History of Science in Edinburgh, Scotland. I should like to thank M. Patrice Bret for reading this manuscript and making some useful suggestions for its improvement. The reworking of this paper was carried out during the tenure of my National Science Foundation grant No. sbe 9212385. (**) Seymour H. Mauskopf, Duke University, Department of History, 226 Carr Building, Box 90719, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0719, usa. Rev. Hist. Sci., 1995, XLVIII/1-2, 95-121
