French organic chemist (1786–1889)

One of the longest-lived of all chemists, Chevreul, who was born at Angers in France, studied at the Collège de France (1803). He was an assistant to Antoine François de Fourcroy (1809), assistant at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle (1810), then professor of physics at the Lycée Charlemagne (1813–30).

In 1810 Chevreul began a great program of research into fats, which was published in his book Recherches chimiques sur les corps gras d'origine animale (1823; Chemical Researches on Animal Fats). By acidification of soaps derived from animal fats and subsequent crystallization from alcohol he was able to identify for the first time various fatty acids: oleic acid, margaric acid (a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids), butyric acid, capric and caproic acids, and valeric acid. He recognized that fats are esters (called ‘ethers’ in the nomenclature of the day) of glycerol and fatty acids and that saponification produces salts of the fatty acids (soaps) and glycerol. In 1825 Chevreul and Joseph Gay-Lussac patented a process for making candles from crude stearic acid. Other fats investigated by Chevreul were spermaceti, lanolin, and cholesterol.

In 1824 Chevreul became director of the dyeworks for the Gobelins Tapestry, where he did important work on coloring matters, discovering hematoxylin in logwood, quercetin in yellow oak, and preparing the reduced colorless form of indigo. He also investigated the science and art of color with special application to the production of massed color by aggregations of small monochromatic dots, as in the threads of a tapestry.

Chevreul's later appointments were professor of chemistry at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle (1830) and director there (1864). His other work included the discovery of creatine (1832) and studies on the history of chemistry.

(mēshĕl' özhĕn' shəvröl') , 1786–1889, French chemist. He studied under L. N. Vauquelin, was director of the Gobelin tapestry works, and from 1830 was professor, and from 1860 to 1879 director, at the natural history museum at Paris. Noted for his researches in the composition of animal fats (by which he contributed to the development of the soap and candle industry), he discovered and named olein and stearin and wrote Recherches sur les corps gras d'origine animale (1823). He also worked and wrote on color contrasts; the results of his studies influenced the painters Seurat and Signac.

(1786-1889)

French chemist, expert on color theories, researcher on animal fats (culminating in discovery of margarine), Michel Eugene Chevreul was born on August 31, 1786 in Angers, France. Chevreul conducted experiments on behalf of the French Academy of Science on divining by means of a pendulum. In his book De la baguette divinatoire (1854) he concluded that the movements of a pendulum in response to questions are the result of involuntary muscular movements in the hand induced by mental processes.

"Chevreul's pendulum" is often cited to disprove the reality of the information obtained by such devices as pendulums or divining rods, much as Michael Faraday's similar explanations for table-turning in Spiritualist séances. Although it seems likely that Chevreul was correct in his investigation of some of the mechanisms of pendulum divining, and also in his assumption that mental processes may affect the pendulum movement, there is equal evidence of paranormal information obtained by the pendulum or divining rod when suggestive factors are not operating.

Chevreul's scientific discoveries made him an international treasure, which was made evident on his 100th birthday celebration given by France and England and his funeral held at Notre Dame Cathedral. He died on April 9, 1889 at the age of 102.

Sources:

Bird, Christopher. The Diving Hand. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1979.