Guillaume-François Rouelle (1703–1770), who was a renowned demonstrator of chemistry in the French Royal Garden (Jardin des Plantes), has been teaching there from 1742 to 1768 a successful course of chemistry. At the same time he was also giving a private course in which he was taking the opportunity of clever digressions for discussing the structure and composition of the terrestrial globe. This teaching has played in France a pioneering role in the awareness of the theoretical and practical importance of a thorough knowledge of the Earth constitution.
Teaching, geology, chemistry, France, 18th century