I once plunged a lecture theatre into darkness. Pandemonium ensued. There were shouts, chatter, whistles, laughter, hoots β even some missiles β in truly inky blackness. It was a striking demonstration of how unusual it is for us to be truly in the dark, and how unsettling that darkness can be. The fear of the dark goes back a long way and with good reason. Most cities were once no go zones after sunset β anyone foolish enough to walk ran the risk of robbery, violence or worse.
The problem was so bad that in October the French parliament issued an edict requiring each household to maintain a candle or lantern to cast light into the street. This was followed by another order requiring a man to be stationed with a lamp or light at the corner of each road. By , Louis XIV issued letters patent approving a corps of porte-flambeaux or porte-lanternes β torch or lantern bearers β who, for a fee, would escort and protect those needing to travel in the hours of darkness.
Travellers from abroad marvelled at the glass boxes suspended above the road. But tallow candles were dim. Among those who submitted proposals was Antoine Lavoisier, who was studying combustion. Genevan chemist Inventor of modern streetlighting. There, he began to attend lectures by the young Horace-Benedict de Saussure whose recent book, Voyage dans les Alpes , had become a bestseller. Under their tutelage, he started giving lectures on distillation that not only drew attention to limitations in current methods, but also proposed a number of improvements.
Among his students were several winemakers from the Vaucluse in Provence. They invited him to Montpellier to try out his ideas, promising him a share of the profits. There, he began to attend lectures by the young Horace-Benedict de Saussure Chemistry World , October , p68 whose recent book, Voyage dans les Alpes , had become a bestseller.
Argand set out in March and spent the next couple of years working with his brother, Jean, in the village of Calvisson perfecting an improved still. A key part of the design was the heating system. It may be that Argand had seen a short paper by an army officer called Meunier, who proposed improvements for oil-burners. Meunier suggested that if one used a flat wick the increased surface area would lead to a hotter flame. By adding a metal chimney around several such wicks, convection would drive more air through the system further increasing the temperature.
