Why did Napoleon Bonaparte choose Claude-Louis Berthollet for the Egyptian campaign?

Napoleon Bonaparte recruited Claude-Louis Berthollet for the 1798 Egyptian campaign primarily because he was impressed by Berthollet’s earlier work during the Italian theatre of operations. During that campaign, Berthollet had served on a commission tasked with selecting and confiscating cultural objects for France.1

Napoleon’s decision to include scientists and scholars in the Egyptian expedition was part of a broader strategy to investigate the country’s past and present condition, with the goal of regenerating Egypt under French administration. Once in Egypt, Berthollet played a significant role by helping to create the Institut d’Egypte, which organized the work of the accompanying savants.21