Teaching Chemistry and Chemical Textbooks in France. From Beguin to Lemery

In the 17th century the status of chemistry changed remarkably. Chemistry was taught in several countries, both privately and in universities. In Germany, it became part of the medical curricula in several universities, while in the rest of Europe the introduction of chemistry in the university curricula was a much slower process. It was taught outside the universities, both in private courses and in institutions other from the universities. The present article investigates the interaction of chemistry teaching and the chemical textbooks published in France in the seventeenth century. The focus of the enquiry is the definition of the aims of chemistry to be found in the chemical textbooks, as well as its relationships to other disciplines, notably, medicine and natural philosophy.