The result was the metric system of basic units that we know today as the meter, gram, and liter.
Following the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792, a governing assembly of businessmen, tradesmen, and professional men called the Convention was elected to replace the National Assembly and to provide a new constitution for the country. In September the Convention formally abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Because at the time France was at war with England, Austria, and Prussia, a Committee of Public Safety was organized to mobilize scientists to defend the new republic. The official position of relating science to politics resulted in concentrated efforts to get things done. For example, French scientists demonstrated unusual resourcefulness in finding and extracting saltpeter for use in making gunpowder. Similar energy was applied to research into steel making, munitions, copper, and sodium carbonate (a compound used in manufacturing glass and soap).
In 1793, on the premise that science was undemocratic in principle, the Convention closed the Académie, which had always been considered a seat of aristocratic privilege, as well as other learned academies of France. With the closure of the few schools that taught science and technology, the era of so-called aristocratic science was over, and for a time research in France was in a state of disarray.
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