Jean-François Clouet (; 11 November 1751 – 4 July 1801) was a French chemist and metallurgist. His notable works include the liquefaction of sulphur dioxide in collaboration with Gaspard Monge and the production of Damascus and cast steel.
Clouet was born in Singly, Ardennes, son of farmer Norbert and Marie-Jeanne Tayaut. Educated at Charleville and at the École du Génie at Mézières he travelled around the country before setting up a pottery workshop where he experimented with enamels. He gave this up in 1783 and became a teacher at the École du Génie where he began to collaborate with
Gaspard Monge
Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse (; 9 May 1746 – 28 July 1818) was a French mathematician, commonly presented as the inventor of descriptive geometry, (the mathematical basis of) technical drawing, and the father of differential geometry. Dur ...
, conducting experiments on the composition of water, liquefaction of sulphur dioxide under low temperature and high pressure (in 1784) and on balloon flight. He took over Monge's position the next year and began to examine metallurgy, with experiments on
siderite
Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). Its name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "iron". A valuable iron ore, it consists of 48% iron and lacks sulfur and phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium, and manganese commonly ...
, and the manufacture of
Damascus steel
Damascus steel (Arabic: فولاذ دمشقي) refers to the high-carbon crucible steel of the blades of historical swords forged using the wootz process in the Near East, characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent ...
. He also examined the composition of Prussian Blue in 1791. After the French Revolution, in which he participated, in 1793, he was called by
Jean-Nicolas Pache
Jean-Nicolas Pache (; 5 May 1746 – 18 November 1823) was a French politician, a Jacobin who served as Minister of War from October 1792 and Mayor of Paris from February 1793 to May 1794.
Biography
Pache was born in Verdun, but grew up in Pa ...
to improve metallurgy and worked at several places including the
École Polytechnique
(, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.
The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...
and Conservatoire des Arts et Métier. He established the foundry at Daigny. In 1795 he claimed to have produced Damascus steel by the addition of diamonds to molten iron. This method of hardening steel was later replaced by graphite by others. He also found a way to cast steel by melting cast iron with chalk and charcoal. He was honoured at the
Exposition des produits de l'industrie française
The Exposition des produits de l'industrie française (; ) was a public event organized in Paris, France, from 1798 to 1849.
The purpose was "to offer a panorama of the productions of the various branches of industry with a view to emulation".
Ba ...
of September 1798. He also began to make experiments on plant chemicals. Clouet was a friend of Claude Henri de Saint-Simon and became interested in reformism and Rousseanism. In 1799 he decided to move to Guiana where he wished to examined tropical plants. He died from a fever at
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...
.
Some early biographers of Clouet have confounded him with two others Abbé Pierre-Romain Clouet (1748–1810), a librarian at the Ecole des Mines, and Jean-Baptiste-Paul-Antoine Clouet (1739–1816), who worked with
Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794), CNRS (