Abstract

In this article I examine Lavoisier's collaboration with his wife in the translation of Kirwan's An essay on phlogiston into French (Essai sur le phlogistique, 1788). This translation is a kind of counter attack by the school of French scholars around Lavoisier. Mrs Lavoisier is generally considered only to have translated Kirwan's book, not to have refuted it. Through a detailed analysis of the translation, of her manuscripts, and of other documents of the period, I conclude that Mrs Lavoisier not only actively attacked the doctrine of phlogiston in her translation, but in the notes and preface to it as well. In addition to her high-level knowledge of chemistry, her close scientific relationship with her husband should be noted. In the first three parts of the translation, the two shared the work between them, in order to convine the readers. A show that Mrs Lavoisier advocated the study of gases from the point of view of their motions, and that she always believed that her husband's theory would prevail. Moreover, Lavoisier assessed his wife's talent at its true value.