At around the age of seventeen Chevreul went to Paris and entered L.N. Vauquelin's chemical laboratory, afterwards becoming his assistant at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) in the "Jardin des Plantes". In 1813 Chevreul was appointed professor of chemistry at the Lycée Charlemagne, and subsequently undertook the directorship of the Gobelins tapestry works, where he carried out his research on colour contrasts. (In 1839, he published the results of his research under the title "De la loi du contraste simultané des couleurs;" It was translated into English and published in 1854 under the title "The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors." A new translation titled "On the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors," with commentary, additional chapters, and color graphics by Dan Margulis appeared in 2020.) In 1826 Chevreul became a member of the Academy of Sciences, and in the same year was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, whose Copley Medal he was awarded in 1857. In 1829, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1868.