Berthollet’s Physical Chemistry and the Natron Lakes
Image gallery - click on the images below to enlarge

Natron Lakes and other sites west of Cairo, from the Description de l'Égypte État Moderne

Map of Lower Egypt and the Valley of the Natron Lakes west of Cairo, Cairo, from Description de l'Égypte Antiquités Mémoires.

"The valley of the Natron Lakes ... is a vast laboratory where nature has prepared an immense quantity of soda [sodium carbonate],” wrote Claude Berthollet, one of the leading scientists in the French expedition to Egypt. Berthollet’s observation of soda deposits on the surrounding limestone hills led to his theory of chemical affinity and the study of physical factors that influence chemical reactions.

From the Description de l'Égypte Antiquités Mémoires.

See also: Learn more about Berthollet and the Soda Lakes

^ Back to the Top