The Society of Arcueil was a circle of French scientists who met regularly on summer weekends between 1806 and 1822 at the country houses of

Claude Louis Berthollet Claude Louis Berthollet (, 9 December 1748 – 6 November 1822) was a Savoyard-French chemist who became vice president of the French Senate in 1804. He is known for his scientific contributions to theory of chemical equilibria via the mecha ...

and

Pierre Simon Laplace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...

Arcueil Arcueil () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Name The name Arcueil was recorded for the first time in 1119 as ''Arcoloï'', and later in the 12th ...

, then a village 3 miles south of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Members

In 1807, when the first collection of ''"Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie de la Société d'Arcueil"'' was published, a list of contributing members read: *

(1748-1822) *

(1749-1827) * Friedrich Heinrich

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

(1769-1859) * Louis Jacques Thenard (1777-1857) *

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (, , ; 6 December 1778 – 9 May 1850) was a French chemist and physicist. He is known mostly for his discovery that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (with Alexander von Humboldt), for two laws ...

(1778-1850) * Jean Baptiste Biot (1774-1862) * Augustin Pyramus de

Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

(1778-1841) *

Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils (November 21, 1773 in Caen – December 6, 1815 in Paris) was a French chemist. He studied in the École des Mines de Paris, and was a student and friend of Louis Nicolas Vauquelin. He is best known for confirmi ...

(1773-1815) * Amedée Barthélemy Berthollet (1780-1810) In the course of the following years they were joined by: *

Étienne-Louis Malus Étienne-Louis Malus (; ; 23 July 1775 – 23 February 1812) was a French officer, engineer, physicist, and mathematician. Malus was born in Paris, France. He participated in Napoleon's expedition into Egypt (1798 to 1801) and was a member o ...

(1775-1812) * Dominique François Jean Arago (1786-1853) * Jacques Etienne Bérard (1789-1869) * Jean Antoine Chaptal (1756-1832) *

Pierre Louis Dulong Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE (; ; 12 February 1785 – 19 July 1838) was a French physicist and chemist. He is remembered today largely for the law of Dulong and Petit, although he was much-lauded by his contemporaries for his studies into ...

(1785-1835) *

Siméon Denis Poisson Baron Siméon Denis Poisson FRS FRSE (; 21 June 1781 – 25 April 1840) was a French mathematician and physicist who worked on statistics, complex analysis, partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, analytical mechanics, electri ...

(1781-1840)

Inspiration

Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

Traité Élémentaire de Chimie ''Traité élémentaire de chimie'' (''Elementary Treatise on Chemistry'') is a textbook written by Antoine Lavoisier published in 1789 and translated into English by Robert Kerr in 1790 under the title ''Elements of Chemistry in a New Systemati ...

", 1789)

Laplace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...

, and Berthollet with his open laboratory, continued this spirit of fellowship at Arcueil. They were the senior moderators in a scientific debate of novel magnitude; combining the framework of physico-mathematical model (Laplace) with experimental investigation (Berthollet).

Roots

The roots of the active progress of the Society of Arcueil lay with

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

's special attention to sciences in general and - as an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

officer - to mathematics in particular. Laplace had been Bonaparte's final examiner at the Ecole Militaire (September 1785) where

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. During ...

, his professor, had encouraged him to finish the two-year course of

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

in one. Napoleon became acquainted with Berthollet during his campaign in Italy, when Berthollet and Monge were part of the commission sent by the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and replaced b ...

to select and dispatch Italian art treasures, manuscripts and scientific documents to Paris. Laplace, Berthollet and Monge became instrumental in having Napoleon elected to the First Class of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institut ...

(the class directing the exact sciences) when

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Count Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist and politician. He was known as the "Organizer of Victory" in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Education and early ...

's place fell vacant in 1797. Napoleon in turn invited them to follow him to Egypt (1798-1799) and instructed Berthollet to conduct the recruitment of the scientists that were to compose the "Institut d'Egypte". The way Berthollet effectively directed the practical installation of the Institute at Qassim Bey's Palace in Caïro, cemented the friendship with Bonaparte in a way that proved its worth in the patronage of the Arcueil Society. When Berthollet, in 1807, concluded that the arrangement for research facilities at Arcueil had cost him more than he could afford, Napoleon, alerted by Laplace and Monge, immediately lend him 150.000 francs to break even. The informality of the "Institut d'Egypte" found its continuance at Arcueil where Berthollet from his Egyptian-decorated study remained in charge of the publication of the "

Description de l'Egypte (1809) Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and na ...

" (ref: Crosland, 1967). File:Society of Arcueil-1.jpg, Volumes I-III of ''Mémoires de physique et de chimie de la Société d’Arcuei'', published by the Society of Arcueil (1807-1817) File:Society of Arcueil-2.jpg, Title page to volume I of ''Mémoires de physique et de chimie de la Société d’Arcuei'' (1807) File:Society of Arcueil-3.jpg, Introduction to volume I of ''Mémoires de physique et de chimie de la Société d’Arcuei'' (1807) File:Society of Arcueil-4.jpg, First page to volume I of ''Mémoires de physique et de chimie de la Société d’Arcuei'' (1807)

Science Under Bonaparte

The quantitative applications of the new science of chemistry had important significance for the state economy. The exploitation of beet sugar, for example, was developed with the boycott of English trade in mind. From the publication of

Franz Achard Franz Karl Achard (28 April 1753 – 20 April 1821) was a German (Prussian) chemist, geoscientist, physicist, and biologist. His principal discovery was the production of sugar from sugar beets. Life and work Achard was born in Berlin, the s ...

's letter on beet sugar in ''

Annales de chimie et de physique __NOTOC__ ''Annales de chimie et de physique'' ( French for ''Annals of Chemistry and Physics'') is a scientific journal founded in Paris, France, in 1789 under the title ''Annales de chimie''. One of the early editors was the French chemist Ant ...

'' (Bruxelles:Van Mons, 1799) and the first presentation of a sample to Napoleon during a session of the First Class of the Institute (June 25, 1800) till the first viable production by Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert in 1812, the subject was one of the scientific priorities in France (see also:

Joseph Proust Joseph Louis Proust (26 September 1754 – 5 July 1826) was a French chemist. He was best known for his discovery of the law of definite proportions in 1794, stating that chemical compounds always combine in constant proportions. Life Joseph L. ...

on grape sugar). The industrial fabrication of

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

from home grown

indigo plant ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description Species of ''Indigofera'' are mos ...

(distinct from

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

) at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

was a direct heritage from the "Institut d'Egypte." Mathematical instruments were a special favourite with Napoleon, and were often awarded medals at the industrial fairs held at the instigation of Chaptal. Members of the Society of Arcueil were frequently invited to judge on such occasions. In 1806, at the third exhibition in the series, some 1.400 participants attended; up from 220 in 1801. Special attention was given to

textile printing Textile printing is the process of applying color to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fibre, so as to resist washing and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but in ...

adapted by Christophe Oberkampf and his nephew Samuel Widmer with the introduction of ''roller'' instead of ''block'' printing. This particular industrial process integrated the

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

(eau de javel) invented by Berthollet, as well as the application of new dyeing methods (Samuel Widmers invention of a solid green dye). In 1806 Oberkampf's factory printed fabrics at the rate of 7,5 metres a minute, a viable alternative to English import. Laplace and Monge were also instructed to supervise

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steambo ...

's experiments with the Nautilus (1800),subsidized in France. Following Volta's visit to Paris in 1801 important work on the

Voltaic pile upright=1.2, Schematic diagram of a copper–zinc voltaic pile. The copper and zinc discs were separated by cardboard or felt spacers soaked in salt water (the electrolyte). Volta's original piles contained an additional zinc disk at the bottom, ...

, involving the Arcueil circle, was carried out under Bonaparte's auspices rewarding

Paul Erman Paul Erman (29 February 1764 – 11 October 1851) was a German physicist from Berlin, Brandenburg and a Huguenot of the fourth generation. He was the son of the historian Jean Pierre Erman (1735–1814), author of ''Histoire des réfugiés' ...

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for ...

, Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thenard in the process. The scientific work in general was of first importance to the education at the Ecole Polytechnique, the home base of many Arcueil scientists. The enhancing of the quality of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

, with Collet-Descotils -the precursor in the discovery of

iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density o ...

- in charge as chief engineer at the " Ecole des Mines", and above all the development of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). T ...

were of prime military significance. The French expertise in

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

was well judged by the Allies when later they dispatched

Jöns Jacob Berzelius Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; by himself and his contemporaries named only Jacob Berzelius, 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be o ...

to Paris to update general knowledge. In 1819 he spent two full months as a guest of Berthollet in the laboratory at Arcueil experimenting, but above all sounding Pierre Dulong whose memoir on a new detonating substance (

nitrogen trichloride Nitrogen trichloride, also known as trichloramine, is the chemical compound with the formula NCl3. This yellow, oily, pungent-smelling and explosive liquid is most commonly encountered as a byproduct of chemical reaction A chemical reaction is ...

) had appeared in the 1817 volume of'' "Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie de la Société d'Arcueil"'' (

André-Marie Ampère André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics". He is also the inventor of nu ...

had already briefed

on prior stages (1811-1813) of Dulong's invention).

"''Memoires''..."

There were three volumes of ''"Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie de la Société d'Arcueil"'': 1807, 1809 and 1817 -the last date testifying to the political difficulties following the demise of

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. The "Mémoires..." published some important new ideas: Malus on the polarisation of

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...

(1809, 1817); Gay-Lussac on the free expansion of gases (1807); Humboldt and Gay-Lussac on

terrestrial magnetism Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magnetic fi ...

(1807); Gay-Lussac's law of combining volumes of gases (1809); Thenard and Biot's observation on the comparison of

aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...

and

calcite Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratc ...

(one of the earliest proofs of dimorphism)(1809); Gay-Lussac and Thenard on the discovery of the

amide In organic chemistry, an amide, also known as an organic amide or a carboxamide, is a compound with the general formula , where R, R', and R″ represent organic groups or hydrogen atoms. The amide group is called a peptide bond when it i ...

s of metal (1809); Candolle on

heliotropism Heliotropism, a form of tropism, is the diurnal or seasonal motion of plant parts (flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the Sun. The habit of some plants to move in the direction of the Sun, a form of tropism, was already known by ...

(1817). Equally important was the special thread, woven into the overall discourse, that held together the brilliant cross-reference among friends.

Foreign visitors

There had often been attempts to correspond between the French and the English scientists notwithstanding the state of war between their countries. At the first opportunity the English correspondents of Arcueil returned to Paris, among them John Leslie (1814) and

Charles Blagden Sir Charles Brian Blagden FRS (17 April 1748 – 26 March 1820) was an English physician and chemist. He served as a medical officer in the Army (1776–1780) and later held the position of Secretary of the Royal Society (1784–1797). Blagd ...

(1814, 1816, 1817) who died of apoplexy (1820) during a visit to Berthollet at Arcueil.

Mary Somerville Mary Somerville (; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary ...

who wrote a popular account of Laplace's "Mécanique Céleste" dined at Arcueil with her scientific "heroes" (1817).

had already been invited by Berthollet to come and study at Arcueil in 1810, but it was not till 1818 that the Swedish government judged it appropriate for him to travel to France. At Arcueil Berzelius engaged in a steadfast friendship with Dulong. In 1820 Dulong wrote to Berzelius: : ''"Despite the objections of M.Laplace and some others, I am convinced that this (atomic) theory is the most important concept of the century and in the next twenty years it will bring about an incalculable extension to all parts of the physical sciences"'' It was the testimony of a changing mood and when

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into Color blindness, colour blindness, which ...

, who had strong differences of opinion with the Society, visited Arcueil in 1822, he received a hearty welcome. It was the last major social event for the Society of Arcueil. Berthollet died on November 6, 1822 and with him went an inspiring power of adherence.

Post Scriptum

The Society of Arcueil however, through the younger generation, was still to illuminate such work as that of

Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at t ...

Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named after ...

Fresnel Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of Newton's corpuscular the ...

, Niepce, Daguerre,

Léon Foucault Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (, ; ; 18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868) was a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of Earth's rotation. He also made an early measurement ...

... as well as many others in the field of scientific education.

Sources

* Maurice Crosland: "The Society of Arcueil -A view of French Science at the time of Napoleon I" Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967