Jean-Baptiste Dumas

Jean Baptiste André Dumas (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃

batist ɑ̃dʁe dyma]; 14 July 1800 – 10 April 1884) was Jean-Baptiste Dumas
a French chemist, best known for his works on organic
analysis and synthesis, as well as the determination of
atomic weights (relative atomic masses) and molecular
weights by measuring vapor densities. He also
developed a method for the analysis of nitrogen in
compounds.[2]

Biography
Dumas was born in Alès (Gard), and became an
apprentice to an apothecary in his native town.[3] In
1816, he moved to Geneva, where he attended lectures
by M. A. Pictet in physics, C. G. de la Rive in Born 14 July 1800
chemistry, and A. P. de Candolle in botany, and before Alès, France
he had reached his majority, he was engaged with Died 10 April 1884 (aged 83)
Pierre Prévost in original work on problems of Cannes, France
physiological chemistry and embryology.[4] In 1822, Nationality French
he moved to Paris, acting on the advice of Alexander
Known for Atomic weights
von Humboldt, where he became professor of
chemistry, initially at the Lyceum, later (1835) at the Awards Copley Medal (1843)
École polytechnique. He was one of the founders of Faraday Lectureship Prize
(1869)
the École centrale des arts et manufactures (later
named École centrale Paris) in 1829. Albert Medal (1877)
Scientific career
In 1832 Dumas became a member of the French
Fields Chemistry
Academy of Sciences. From 1868 until his death in
1884 he would serve the academy as the permanent Notable Eugène-Anatole Demarçay,[1]
secretary for its department of Physical Sciences. In students Auguste Laurent
1838, Dumas was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The same year he became correspondent of the Royal Institute of
the Netherlands and, when that became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851, he
joined as a foreign member.[5] Dumas was president of Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale
from 1845 to 1864. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1860.[6]

After 1848, he exchanged much of his scientific work for ministerial posts under Napoléon III. He
became a member of the National Legislative Assembly. He acted as minister of agriculture and
commerce for a few months in 1850–1851, and subsequently became a senator, president of the
municipal council of Paris, and master of the French mint, but his official career came to a sudden end
with the fall of the Second Empire.[4]

Dumas was a devout Catholic who would often defend Christian

views against critics.[7]

Dumas died at Cannes in 1884, and is buried at the Montparnasse

Cemetery in Paris, in a large tomb near the back wall. His is one
of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel tower.

Scientific work
Dumas was one of the first to criticise the electro-chemical
doctrines of Jöns Jakob Berzelius, which, at the time his work
began, were widely accepted as the true theory of the constitution
of compound bodies, and opposed a unitary view to the dualistic
conception of the Swedish chemist.[8] In a paper on the atomic
Jean-Baptiste Dumas
theory, published in 1826, he anticipated to a remarkable extent
some ideas which are frequently supposed to belong to a later
period; and the continuation of these studies led him to the ideas
about substitution (metalepsis) which were developed about 1839
into the theory (Older Style Theory) that in organic chemistry
there are certain types which remain unchanged even when their
hydrogen is replaced by an equivalent quantity of a halide
element. The classification of organic compounds into
homologous series was advanced as one consequence of his
researches into the acids generated by the oxidation of the
alcohols.[4]

Dumas also showed that kidneys remove urea from the blood.[9][3]

Vapour densities and atomic masses

Dumas perfected the method of measuring vapor densities which Grave of Dumas (Paris)
was also important in determining atomic weights (see below). A
known amount of the substance being analyzed was put into a
previously weighed glass bulb, which was then sealed and heated in water to vaporize the substance. The
pressure was recorded with a barometer, and the bulb is allowed to cool to determine the mass of the
vapor. The universal gas law was then used to determine the moles of gas within the bulb.[10]: 40

In an 1826 paper, he described his method for ascertaining vapour densities, and the redeterminations
which he undertook by its aid of the atomic weights of carbon and oxygen proved the forerunners of a
long series which included some thirty of the elements, the results being mostly published in 1858–
1860.[4] He showed "in all elastic fluids observed under the same conditions, the molecules are placed at
equal distances". He also determined the atomic weight of samarium, one of the rare earth
elements.[11]: 718–720
Dumas established new values for the atomic mass of thirty elements, setting the value for hydrogen to 1.

Determination of nitrogen
In 1833, Dumas developed a method for estimating the amount of nitrogen in an organic compound,
founding modern analysis methods. He made important revisions to the existing combustion methods
with a sophisticated pneumatic trough. These revisions were the flushing of the combustion tube with
carbon dioxide and the addition of potassium hydroxide in the pneumatic trough. Flushing with carbon
dioxide eliminated the nitrogen present in the air that previously occupied the combustion tube,
eliminating the need for correction due to nitrogen in the air. The potassium hydroxide dissolved the
passing carbon dioxide gas, which left nitrogen as the only gas in the collection tube.[12][10]: 122–124

Theory of substitution and theory of chemical types

At the Tuileries palace in Paris, guests at a soirée began reacting adversely to a gas suddenly emitted by
the candles. Alexandre Brongniart asked his son-in-law, Dumas, to investigate. Dumas found that the
coughing and dangerous fumes were caused by chlorine present in the candle wax. Chlorine had been
used to whiten the candles, and Dumas concluded that it must have combined during the candle-making
process. This led Dumas to investigate the behavior of chlorine substitution in other chemical
compounds.[10]: 122–124

One of the most important research projects of Dumas was that on the action of chlorine on acetic acid to
form trichloroacetic acid – a derivative of essentially the same character as the acetic acid itself,[13]
though a stronger acid. Dumas extended this to a theory (sometimes considered a law) which states that in
an organic compound, a hydrogen atom may be substituted for any halogen.[10]: 122–124

In his published paper on the subject, Dumas introduces his theory of types. Since the trichloracetic acid
retained similar properties to acetic acid, Dumas reasoned that there were certain chemical structures that
remained comparatively unchanged even if one atom were changed within them. The basis of this theory
rests in the natural history of organism classification, which Dumas learned under the botanist de
Candolle. This new theory challenged Berzelius's previous theory of electrochemical dualism and was
also a competitor of radical theory.[10]: 122–124 [14]

Family
He married Herminie Brongniart, daughter of Alexandre Brongniart, in 1826.[15]

See also
Dumas method
Dumas method of molecular weight determination

References
1. Asimov, Isaac (1982). "825. Demarçay, Eugène Anatole" (https://archive.org/details/asimovs
 biographi00asim/page/532). Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology (2nd revised ed.). New York etc.: Doubleday. pp. 532-533 (https://archive.org/de
tails/asimovsbiographi00asim/page/532). ISBN 9780385177719. OCLC 421632468 (https://
search.worldcat.org/oclc/421632468).
2. Benninga, H. (30 June 1990). A History of Lactic Acid Making: A Chapter in the History of
Biotechnology (https://books.google.com/books?id=fdBMcYg_xGYC&pg=PA17). Springer
Science & Business Media. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7923-0625-2.
3. Moran, Michael E. (30 October 2013). Urolithiasis: A Comprehensive History (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=3XvBBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA111). Springer Science & Business Media.
p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4614-8196-6.
4. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dumas, Jean Baptiste André". Encyclopædia
Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 657–658.
5. "J. B. A. Dumas (1800–1884)" (http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=author
Detail&aId=PE00000061). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved
19 July 2015.
6. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Jean-Baptist
e+A.+Dumas&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smo
de=advanced). search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
7. "Jean-Baptiste Dumas" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05189a.htm). Catholic
Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
8. Nieto-Galan, Agusti (10 March 2016). Science in the Public Sphere: A history of lay
knowledge and expertise (https://books.google.com/books?id=VAy4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16
3). Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-317-27792-7.
9. Proteins, Enzymes, Genes: The Interplay of Chemistry and Biology (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=X6skaZlZNdsC&pg=PA238). Yale University Press. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-300-
15359-0.
10. Nye, Mary (1996). Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics 1800-
1940. Twayne Publishers. pp. 122–124.
11. Weeks, Mary Elvira (1956). The discovery of the elements (https://archive.org/details/discov
eryoftheel002045mbp) (6th ed.). Easton, PA: Journal of Chemical Education.
12. Ihde, Aaron (1964). The Development of Modern Chemistry. Harper & Row. p. 182.
13. Dumas (1840). "Trichloroacetic acid". Annalen der Chemie. XXXII: 101.
14. Levere, Trevor H. (1994). Chemist and Chemistry in Nature and Society 1770-1878.
Aldershot, Hampshire, Great Britain: Variorum. pp. XVII 113–116.
15. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (https://
web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biogr
aphical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf) (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-
902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/bi
ographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf) (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

Further reading
Rocke, Alan J. (2001). Nationalizing Science: Adolphe Wurtz and the Battle for French
Chemistry. Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-18204-1.
"Obituary" (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k563306). Proceedings of the Royal Society.
37: x. 1884.
Noyes, William Albert (1927). "Valence". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
66: 287–308. JSTOR 3301070 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3301070).
 Tiffeneau, Marc (1934). Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800–1884), Paris, Laboratoires G. Beytout.

External links
Works by or about Jean-Baptiste Dumas (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28su
bject%3A%22Dumas%2C%20Jean-Baptiste%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Jean-Baptist
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20J%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Jean-Baptiste%20Dumas%22%20OR%20descriptio
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e%20Dumas%22%29%20OR%20%28%221800-1884%22%20AND%20Dumas%29%29%2
0AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the Internet Archive
Jean-Baptiste Dumas Biography (https://web.archive.org/web/20110415021645/http://www.
pasteurbrewing.com/colleagues/biographies/jean-baptiste-dumas-1800-1884.html), Pasteur
Brewing
An essay by Josiah Parsons Cooke Reprinted from the Proceedings of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xix, 1883–'84 (http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLin
e/63287/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140805071607/http://www.readbookonlin
e.net/readOnLine/63287/) 5 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas Science Science Vol. III No.72 Published by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1759317?seq=1)

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