Jean Hellot

Jean Hellot (1685 to 1766) was a French chemist who contributed to early studies on phosphorus and worked on applied aspects of dyeing, metallurgy, mining and porcelain manufacture. Born in Paris and expected to follow a career in the clergy, he was drawn to science by a chemistry book that had belonged to his grandfather, and he later directed the Gazette de France from 1718 to 1738, which made him a friend of many French scientists. His first chemistry research appeared in 1735, and in 1736 he became an assistant chemist at the Academie Royale des Sciences, rising to chief chemist in 1743. He edited the French translation of Christoph Andreas Schlüter's metallurgical treatise, published as De la fonte des mines, des fonderies in 1750 to 1753, studied dyeing and mordants for wool, showed that the colours of precious minerals were due to gaseous additives present when they formed, and studied the assaying and refining of metals and alloys. He also researched invisible inks, the extraction of phosphorus from urine and the making of ether, and in 1763 sat on a committee examining fire hazards in a coalmine at Briançon.