Oxygen, Politics and the American Revolution (With a Note on the Bicentennial of Phlogiston)

In this bicentennial year, it seems appropriate that each discipline examine its heritage. Two centuries ago, Joseph Priestley isolated "dephlogisticated air." International diplomacy surrounding the American and early French Revolutions provided an opportunity for Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier to witness Priestley's work. The combined efforts of these analytical minds converted an illogical phlogiston myth into a practical and therapeutic principle. Lavoisier subsequently coined the word "oxy-gène." In the ensuing centuries, this substance has gained a central role in rational surgical therapy. The interaction between these scientists, their ultimate fate and their relationship to their communities appear to provide lessons relevant to present day biomedical research funding and the peer review process. The surgical community can be justifiably proud of its past. By reflecting on these events, we may perhaps concentrate the benefits without condemning ourselves to the repetition of previous error.