Jean Senebier

A pioneer in the field of photosynthesis research, he provided extensive evidence that plants consume carbon dioxide and produced oxygen.

[7] His precise definition of the experimental method anticipated the work of noted French physiologist Claude Bernard fifty years later.

Spallanzani's chemical research on bodily functions of animals helped lead Senebier towards studying plant chemistry.

Senebier trained the young man in Lavoisier's system of chemistry, which Nicolas-Théodore later applied in important plant-nutrition studies of his own.

[14]: 180  The younger Saussure would eventually discover the role of water in photosynthesis, thus completing the early chemical research on this subject.

Recherches sur l'influence de la lumiere solaire pour métamorpher l'air fixe en air pur par la végétation , 1783
Bust of Jean Senebier, on display on the grounds of the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva .