Paris, France/parisF351
Previous | Home | NextOne can visualize the historic laboratory of Deville, who was the first to prepare aluminum in quantity. This was done by the reaction of aluminum oxide with metallic sodium (instead of potassium, as did Wöhler {LINK: Munich }). It is possible that the first ingot was cast by Deville not here at École Normale, but instead in Irigny near Lyon {LINK: Lyon }. Later, quantities were produced at Javel {LINK: Paris4-015} downstream on the Seine, in a suburb of Paris. In this print, Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877), the President of the Republic of France (during 1871-1873), is visiting the laboratory of Deville and Debray at the École Normale Supérieure. The actual production of aluminum by Deville commenced in 1854, while Napoléon III (1808-1873) reigned over France during 1852-1870. For more historic materials and memorabilia regarding the École Normale, see the museum below at the nearby École Normale library in the École Normale Laboratory of Physics {LINK: ParisF440}.
