Nicolas Lemery

Nicolas Lemery (1645 to 1715), written Lémery in French, was a French chemist born at Rouen in Normandy and one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry. After learning pharmacy in his native town he became a pupil of Christophe Glaser in Paris, lectured on chemistry at Montpellier, and then set up a pharmacy in Paris while continuing his lectures. As a Calvinist he had to retire to England after 1683, returned to France the next year, and after turning Catholic in 1686 reopened his shop and resumed teaching. He held chemistry to be a demonstrative science resting on facts and experiments, shunned the obscurities of the alchemists, and saw his Cours de chymie of 1675 run to 13 editions. In 1680 he used the corpuscular theory to say that acidity consisted in pointed particles, while alkalis had pores of various sizes. He also found that iron filings and sulfur rubbed to a paste with water give off heat, the basis of his artificial volcano.