Laurent auguste biography

Kapoor, Satish C. Mauskopf, Seymour. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society , Novitski, Marya. Auguste Laurent and the Prehistory of Valence. Philadelphia: Harwood Academic, Tiffeneau, Marc, ed. Correspondance de Charles Gerhardt. Paris: Masson, — Williamson, Alexander. Agricultural fairs were a minor part of agriculture and rural life in the early Republic.

But their rise and fall from to marked the beginning of farmers' commitment to improve agriculture through such techniques as selective livestock breeding, crop selection, fertilization, and crop rotation. The first agricultural societies and fairs appealed to elites. In educated gentleman farmers and planters organized societies in Philadelphia and Charleston, South Carolina , to discuss the application of science to agriculture.

Members included merchants and professionals as well as such prominent citizens as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. These societies offered premiums for the best essays on fattening cattle and the best experiments in wheat growing and pumping water. The city of Washington established a series of market fairs in and Organizers awarded premiums to the best examples of each type of livestock sold.

In Washington-area residents organized the Columbian Agricultural Society, which held regular fairs and awarded prizes for the best livestock exhibited rather than sold. The agricultural societies and fairs of the early s, however, were not popular with the majority of people who actually raised most of America's crops and livestock. In September Elkanah Watson organized and established the first true farmers' fair at Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Watson was a promoter and entrepreneur who had begun to raise merino sheep, an imported breed noted for fine wool. He understood that the existing organizations dedicated to improving agriculture appealed only to urban elites, gentlemen farmers, and amateur scientists. Watson believed that the message of improvement would be more palatable to working farmers if accompanied by entertainment and camaraderie.

Fairs needed to feature enough pageantry to "seize upon the farmer's heart" as well as his mind. The event began with a parade of members of the society adorned with wheat cockades in their hats, livestock, and a band. Exhibits consisted of livestock along with field and orchard crops, and the Berkshire Agricultural Society presented certificates, ribbons, and engraved silver pieces as awards.

Over the next few years, Watson broadened the appeal of the fair by adding competitions for domestic manufacturers, a church service, and an Agricultural Ball. The blend of education and entertainment accounted for the popularity of agricultural fairs into the s. Watson even wrote a book to promote his vision, History of Agricultural Societies on the Modern Berkshire System Visitors observed the difference between common livestock and improved breeds.

Exhibitors displayed sheep with heavier and finer fleeces, stronger oxen, more prodigious hogs, cows noted for producing rich milk in large quantity, and prolific bulls. They wanted to attract those who wished to purchase breeding stock. Exhibits of domestic manufactures were common by the mids, reflecting the importance of homemade textiles in the years before factory cloth dominated.

This new style of fair, dedicated to experiencing improvement rather than merely discussing it, appealed to farm families, especially those with access to New York City and urban markets in New England. Organizers in Fredericksburg, Virginia, conducted that state's first fair in The message of improvement was powerful enough to convince some state legislatures to appropriate funds to support county agricultural societies and their fairs.

In the New York legislature authorized payments to Allegany and Genesee Counties to support agricultural societies. Two years later the legislature appropriated money for Livingston and Monroe Counties. Each county was responsible for providing matching funds to be used for fair premiums. In the Massachusetts assembly provided an annual payment of two hundred dollars to be used for premiums to every incorporated society in the state with capital stock of one thousand dollars that served a county of twenty-five thousand people.

In the late s the popularity of agricultural societies and fairs waned. Increasing production through improved livestock breeding, crop selection, and cultivation practices was difficult for farmers to accept during a period of low commodity prices. Most agricultural societies in Pennsylvania and Connecticut disbanded after and only one society remained by in New York, the home of the most societies and fairs.

State legislatures also withdrew financial support. While a few agricultural societies sponsored fairs in the s, only the return of agricultural prosperity in the s contributed to a new interest in forming agricultural societies and conducting fairs following Watson's Berkshire plan. See also Agriculture ; Livestock Production. Kelly, Catherine E.

Kniffen, Fred. Mastromarino, Mark A. McNall, Neil Adams. An Agricultural History of the Genesee Valley, — Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Neely, Wayne Caldwell. The Agricultural Fair. New York: Columbia University Press, Turner, Charles W. Laurent, Auguste or Augustin gale. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia.

Laurent, Auguste gale. La Folie, near Langres, France, 14 November ; d. Paris, 15 April , chemistry. Fairs gale. They brought together traders from much greater distances than the markets held weekly or more frequently in many towns and villages. Markets dealt in local and seasonal produce; fairs provided the opportunity to buy a wider range of products.

Fairs were held at regular intervals for a fixed number of days. They were licensed by charter, usually from the crown. In turn, they were highly profitable to magnates and corporations through stall rents. Some fairs became famous for their size and their specializations. These fairs drew traders and customers from many parts of the country and even from overseas.

Examples include Stourbridge Cambs. Such large, temporary concentrations of strangers challenged the normal mechanisms for maintaining law and order. Most fairs provided entertainments but these remained only marginal until the major commercial changes of the 18th cent. These changes diminished the trade of fairs because of the expansion of shopping facilities and the regularity of deliveries of goods and services made possible by improved roads and the canal network.

Fairs continued for seasonal agricultural trade in grain, cattle, and sheep into the 19th cent. However, even these features declined as railways made deliveries of farm produce to major markets reliable and other forms of labour recruitment became the norm. Only a limited number of fairs remained by the time the royal commission of examined the role of fairs and markets.

Its evidence indicated that fairs had become associated with entertainment and sometimes with disorder. Many fairs with ancient charters continue uninterrupted to the present time, often held in town centres. During the 20th cent. After his death, his work on molecules, atoms, and the structure of organic compounds was published in his posthumous book "Method of Chemistry" in Despite facing financial difficulties throughout his life, Laurent remained dedicated to scientific pursuits until his death.

Laurent auguste biography

He died on April 23, , in Paris, at the age of Despite his untimely demise, Auguste Laurent's contributions and theoretical insights continue to influence the field of organic chemistry to this day. Auguste Laurent French organic chemist Date of Birth: Contact About Privacy. Share Link Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend.

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