The New Chemistry in the Netherlands

Abstract

T HE INTRODUCTION OF Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier's new chemistry is one of the highlights of the history of chemistry in the Netherlands. Interest in the new ideas stimulated activity in the subject, as Dutch scientists not only published various articles on the new chemistry but also carried out a great number of original experiments supporting Lavoisier's theory.1 By the early nineteenth century most chemists in the North and South Netherlands had adopted that theory. By that time also, however, interest in carrying out original chemical experiments was decreasing as Dutch scientists and amateurs turned to other subjects.