Louis Jacques Thénard
The Frenchman Thenard was born a peasant, but he eventually became a baron and professor at the Collège de France. Like so many of his time who were interested in chemistry, he studied pharmacy and was a pupil of Berthollet, Fourcroy, and Vauquelin. He later worked with Gay-Lussac on the reduction of alkali metal oxides with iron and obtained boron by the reduction of boric oxide with potassium. He discovered hydrogen peroxide (1818). He was a widely known teacher and his Traité de Chimie Elémentaire was the standard book for many years. |
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