Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) was born in Paris. Later generations called Lavoisier the father of modern chemistry. His masterpiece for later generations was "The Compendium of Chemistry", which marked the birth of modern chemistry. Lavoisier listed the first list of elements, which were divided into four categories:

1. Simple substances, such as light, heat, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen.

2. Simple non-metallic substances, such as sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, hydrochloric acid, fluoric acid, boric acid, etc., whose oxides are acids.

3. Simple metallic substances, such as antimony, silver, bismuth, cobalt, copper, tin, iron, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, gold, platinum, lead, tungsten, zinc, etc., are oxidized to form a salt base that can neutralize acids.

4. Simple materials, lime, magnesium, barium, bauxite, silica, etc.

When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, Lavoisier surrendered himself to prison because he had served as a tax collector. He was falsely accused of having dealings with enemies of France, was guilty of treason, and was hanged on May 8, 1794. Lagrange, the famous French Italian mathematician, said sadly: "They could cut off his head in an instant, and a brain like his might not grow one in a hundred years."¡»