One of Lavoisiers main influences was Étienne Bonnet, abbé de Condillac. Condillacs approach to scientific research, which was the basis of Lavoisiers  approach in Traité, was to demonstrate that human beings could create a mental representation of the world using gathered evidence. In Lavoisiers preface to Traité, he statesLavoisier clearly ties his ideas in with those of Condillac, seeking to reform the field of chemistry. His goal in Traité was to associate the field with direct experience and observation, rather than assumption. His work defined a new foundation for the basis of chemical ideas and set a direction for the future course of chemistry.