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'''Alan McLoughlin''' (born 20 April 1967) is an [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] coach, and former player, of [[association football]] (soccer).
{{Infobox_Biography |
subject_name={{PAGENAME}}|
image_name=Antoine_lavoisier_color.jpg|
image_caption=[[France|French]] [[chemist]], [[economics|economist]] and [[nobility|nobleman]] |
quotation=Systematic determination of the weights of reagents and products involved in chemical reactions and explanation of combustion replaced the [[phlogiston]] theory|
date_of_birth=[[August 26]] [[1743]] |
place_of_birth=
[[Paris]],[[France]] |
dead=dead |
date_of_death=[[May 8]] [[1794]] |
place_of_death=[[Paris]],[[France]]
}}
'''Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier''' ([[August 26]] [[1743]] – [[May 8]] [[1794]]) was a [[France|French]] [[nobility|nobleman]] prominent in the histories of [[chemistry]], [[finance]], [[biology]], and [[economics]]. The "''[[List of people known as the father or mother of something|father of modern chemistry]]''", he stated the first version of the [[Law of Conservation of Matter]], recognized and named [[oxygen]] ([[1778]]), disproved the [[phlogiston theory]], and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. He was also an investor and administrator of the ''[[Ferme Générale]]'', a private tax collection company; chairman of the board of the [[Discount Bank]] (later the [[Banque de France]]); and a powerful member of a number of other aristocratic administrative councils. Due to his prominence in the pre-revolutionary government in [[France]], he was [[beheaded]] at the height of the [[French Revolution]].
==Early life==
[[Image:David_Portrait_of_Monsieur_Lavoisier.jpg|thumb|250px|left|''Portrait of Monsieur Lavoisier and his Wife'', by [[Jacques-Louis David]]]]
Born to a wealthy family in [[Paris]], Antoine Laurent Lavoisier inherited a large fortune when his mother died. He attended the [[College Mazarin]] from [[1754]] to [[1761]], studying [[chemistry]], [[botany]], [[astronomy]], and [[mathematics]]. His first chemical publication appeared in [[1764]]. In [[1767]] he worked on a geological survey of [[Alsace-Lorraine]]. He was elected a member of the [[French Academy of Sciences]] in [[1768]] for an essay on street lighting. In [[1769]] he worked on the first geological map of [[France]]. In [[1771]], he married 13-year-old Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze; the daughter of a co-owner of the Ferme. With time, she proved to be a scientific colleague to her husband, who translated from English for him, illustrated his books, and assisted him in his research.
McLoughlin began his career as a trainee at [[Manchester United F.C.]], before joining [[Swindon Town F.C.]] in August [[1986]]. However, he didn't fit in well with manager [[Lou Macari]]'s long ball style, and just seven months and nine appearances later, he moved to [[Torquay United F.C.]] on loan.
==Contributions to chemistry==
[[Image:Antoine_lavoisier.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Portrait]] of Antoine Lavoisier in his youth.]]
Beginning in [[1775]], he served in the [[Royal Gunpowder Administration]], where his work led to improvements in the production of [[gunpowder]] and the use of agricultural chemistry by designing a new method for preparing [[saltpeter]].
His Swindon career looked to be over when he returned to Torquay at the start of the following season for another loan spell, but following suspensions to other players McLoughlin was given another chance in the first team and soon established himself.
Some of Lavoisier's most important experiments examined the nature of [[combustion]], or burning. Through these experiments, he demonstrated that burning is a process that involves the combination of a substance with oxygen. He also demonstrated the role of oxygen in metal rusting, as well as its role in animal and plant respiration: working with [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]], Lavoisier conducted experiments that showed that respiration was essentially a slow combustion of organic material using inhaled oxygen. Lavoisier's explanation of combustion replaced the [[phlogiston]] theory, which postulates that materials release a substance called phlogiston when they burn.
[[Image:Hidrogenexp1.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[Drawing|Hand sketch]] design aparatus for hydrogen combustion experiment made by Lavoisier in the [[1780s]].]]
He also discovered that the inflammable air of [[Henry Cavendish]] which he termed [[hydrogen]] (Greek for water-former), combined with oxygen to produce a dew, as [[Joseph Priestley]] had reported, which appeared to be water. Lavoisier's work was partly based on the work of Priestley (he corresponded with Priestley and fellow members of the [[Lunar Society]]). However, he tried to take credit for Priestley's discoveries. This tendency to use the results of others without acknowledgment, then draw conclusions is said to be characteristic of Lavoisier. In ''Sur la combustion en general'' (''On Combustion in general''), [[1777]] and ''Considérations Générales sur la Nature des Acides'' (General Consideration on the Nature of Acids), [[1778]]), he demonstrated that the "air" responsible for combustion was also the source of acidity. In [[1779]], he named this part of the air oxygen (Greek for acid-former), and the other azote (Greek for no life). In ''Reflexions sur le Phlogistique'', [[1783]], Lavoisier showed the [[phlogiston theory]] to be inconsistent.
[[Image:Instruments_lavoisier.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Laboratory instruments used by Lavoisier.]]
It was under Macari's sucessor as manager, [[Ossie Ardiles]], that McLoughlin really blossomed. He was an ever present in Ardiles' first season, and scored sixteen goals. He capped off a fine season by scoring the winning goal in the Play-Off final at [[Wembley Stadium]] against [[Sunderland AFC]].
[[Image:Hidrogenexp2.gif|thumb|180px|right|Aparatus for hydrogen combustion experiment made from Lavoisier's sketch by Jean Baptiste Meusnier in [[1783]].]]
McLoughlin's performances won him international recognition, and he was named in the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Ireland squad]] for the [[Football World Cup 1990|1990 World Cup]] in [[Italy]]. He made two appearances in the tournament, coming on as a substitute in the matches with [[England national football team|England]] and [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]].
Lavoisier's experiments were among the first truly quantitative chemical experiments ever performed; that is, he carefully weighed the reactants and products involved, a crucial step in the advancement of chemistry. He showed that, although matter changes its state in a chemical reaction, the quantity of matter is the same at the end as at the beginning of every chemical reaction. He burnt phosphorus and sulfur in air, and proved that the products weighed more than the original. Nevertheless, the weight gained was lost from the air.
[[Image:Calorimeter.gif|thumb|180px|left|Constant [[pressure]] [[calorimeter]] made by Lavoisier for chemical [[enthalpy]] experiment.]]
These experiments provided evidence for the law of the conservation of matter. Lavoisier also investigated the composition of water and air, which at the time were considered elements. He discovered the components of water were oxygen and hydrogen, and that air was a mixture of gases - primarily [[nitrogen]] and oxygen. With the French chemists [[Claude-Louis Berthollet]], Antoine Fourcroy and Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier devised a chemical nomenclature, or a system of names describing the structure of chemical compounds. He described it in ''Méthode de nomenclature chimique'' (''Method of Chemical Nomenclature'', [[1787]]). Their system facilitated communication of discoveries between chemists of different backgrounds and is still largely in use today, including names such as sulfuric acid, sulfates, and sulfites.
However, before the next season began, Swindon were demoted by the [[Football League]] for making irregular payments to players. With the club in financial trouble, players had to be sold, and McLoughlin's left for Southampton in December 1990, for a club record £1 million.
His ''Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry'', [[1789]], translated into English by [[Robert Kerr (writer)|Robert Kerr]]) is considered to be the first modern chemical [[textbook]], and presented a unified view of new theories of chemistry, contained a clear statement of the [[Law of Conservation of Mass]], and denied the existence of phlogiston. Also, Lavoisier clarified the concept of an element as a simple substance that could not be broken down by any known method of chemical analysis, and he devised a theory of the formation of chemical compounds from elements.
[[Image:Lavoisiers_lab.jpg|thumb|270px|left|A replica of Lavoisier's laboratory at the ''Deutsches Museum'' in [[Munich]], [[Germany]].]]
[[Image:Lentilles_ardentes.jpg|thumb|270px|right|Combustion generated by amplified sun light using lenses; experiment conducted by Lavosier.]]
In addition, it contained a list of elements, or substances that could not be broken down further, which included oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, [[phosphorus]], [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[zinc]], and [[sulphur]]. It also forms the basis for the modern list of elements. His list, however, also included light and [[Caloric theory|caloric]], which he believed to be material substances. While many leading chemists of the time refused to believe Lavoisier's new revelations, the ''Elementary Treatise'' was written well enough to convince the younger generation.
[[Image:Zoom_lunette_ardente.jpg|thumb|270px|left|Lavoisier while conducting combustion experiment.]]
Lavoisier's fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory. He established the consistent use of chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature which held that oxygen was an essential constituent of all acids (which later turned out to be erroneous). For the first time the modern notion of elements is laid out systematically; the three or four elements of classical chemistry gave way to the modern system, and Lavoisier worked out reactions in chemical equations that respect the conservation of mass (see, for example, the [[nitrogen cycle]]).[[Image:Lavoisier_humanexp.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Lavoisier conducting an experiment in the [[1770s]].]]
His contributions are considered the most important in advancing the science of chemistry to the level of what had been achieved in physics and mathematics.
However he failed to show the level of form that he had at Swindon, and he was loaned to first [[Aston Villa F.C.]] then [[Portsmouth F.C.]]. The latter were impressed enough by McLoughlin to make a bid for him, and so in Febuary 1992 he moved to [[Fratton Park]] for £400,000 after making only 29 appearances for the Saints.
==Law and politics==
Of key significance in Lavoisier's life was his study of [[law]]. He received a [[law degree]] and was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]], but never practiced as a [[lawyer]]. He did become interested in French [[politics]], and as a result, he obtained a position as [[tax]] collector in the ''[[Ferme Générale]]'', a [[tax farming]] company, at the age of 26, where he attempted to introduce reforms in the French [[monetary system|monetary]] and [[tax]]ation system. While in government work, he helped develop the [[SI|metric system]] to secure uniformity of [[weights and measures]] throughout France.
It was at Portsmouth that he enjoyed his finest years as a player. Whilst at the club McLoughlin represented Ireland at the [[Football World Cup 1994|1994 World Cup]].
==Execution==
As one of 28 French tax collectors and a powerful figure in the unpopular [[Ferme Générale]], Lavoisier was branded a traitor during the [[Reign of Terror]] by [[French Revolution|revolutionists]] in [[1794]], and tried, convicted and [[guillotine|guillotined]] all on one day in Paris, at the age of 51. Ironically, Lavoisier was one of the few liberals in his position. One of his actions that may have sealed his fate was a contretemps a few years earlier with the young [[Jean-Paul Marat]], who subsequently became a leading revolutionary.
In December 1999 he was sold to [[Wigan Athletic F.C.]] for £260,000. However injuries prevented him from making a major impact and he moved on a free transfer to [[Rochdale F.C.]] in December 2001, having made only 12 starts (plus 10 as a sub) for Wigan, scoring one goal.
An appeal to spare his life was cut short by the judge: "The Republic has no need of geniuses [or, alternately, "scientists."]." His importance for science was expressed by the mathematician [[Joseph Louis Lagrange]] who lamented the beheading by saying: "It took them only an instant to cut off that head, but France may not produce another like it in a century."
With his career winding down McLoughlin joined [[Forest Green Rovers F.C.]] as a player-coach for the 2002/03 season. At the end of the season McLoughlin retired from playing to concentrate on coaching with the club.
One and a half years following his death, Lavoisier was exonerated by the French government. When his private belongings were delivered to his widow, a brief note was included reading "To the widow of Lavoisier, who was falsely convicted."
He was capped 42 times for the Republic of Ireland.
About a century after his death, a statue of Lavoisier was erected in Paris. It was later discovered that the sculptor had not actually copied Lavoisier's head for the statue, but used a spare head of the [[Marquis de Condorcet]], the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences during Lavoisier's last years. Lack of money prevented alterations being made and, in any case, the French argued pragmatically that all men in wigs looked alike anyway. The statue was melted down during the [[Second World War]] and has never been replaced.
== Can a severed head think? ==
A story relates how Lavoisier arranged a final experiment at his death intended to determine whether and for how long a severed head remains conscious after [[decapitation]]. Supposedly, Lavoisier decided to blink as many times as possible, and had an assistant count the blinks, which numbered between 15 and 20. The story may be apocryphal. Standard biographies have never mentioned the incident, and some biologists have expressed skepticism that it would be possible. Empirical evidence on this point varies in reliability and is difficult to evaluate.[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html]
==Further reading==
* Berthelot, M. ''La révolution chimique: Lavoisier.'' Paris: Alcan, 1890.
* Daumas, M. ''Lavoisier, théoricien et expérimentateur.'' Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1955.
*Donovan, Arthur, "Antoine Lavoisier: Science, Administration, and Revolution.", Cambridge University Press, 1993.
* Lavoisier, A. ''Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d'après les découvertes modernes, 2 vols.'' Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789. Reprinted Bruxelles: Cultures et Civilisations, 1965.
* Antoine Lavoisier, ''Elements of Chemistry'', Dover Publications Inc., New York, NY,1965, 511 pages.
* Hundred Greatest Men, 1885 [http://www.lib.utexas.edu www.lib.utexas.edu]
*Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics by Jack Kelly - The history of the explosive that changed the world (Basic Books, 2004 - 0-465-03718-6).
*Grey, Vivian. "The Chemist Who Lost His Head: The Story of Antoine Lavoisier.", Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. , 1982
==External links==
* [http://moro.imss.fi.it/lavoisier/ A virtual museum of Antoine Lavoisier]
* [http://histsciences.univ-paris1.fr/i-corpus/lavoisier/index.php The Complete Works of Lavoisier]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html Does the head remain briefly conscious after decapitation?] from [[The Straight Dope]], references Lavoisier's execution
* [http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/chemach/fore/all.html Antoine Lavoisier], Chemical Achievers profile
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[[Category:1794 deaths|Lavoisier, Antoine]]
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[[Category:Lunar Society|Lavoisier, Antoine]]
[[Category:Guillotined French Revolution figures|Lavoisier, Antoine]]
[[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements|Lavoisier, Antoine]]
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