Priestley, Joseph
Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804), British chemist, who isolated and described several gases, including oxygen, and who is considered one of the founders of modern chemistry because of his contributions to experimentation.
Priestley was born on March 13, 1733, in Fieldhead, Yorkshire, the son of a Calvinist minister. Priestley trained as a minister of the Dissenting church, which comprised various churches that had separated from the Church of England. He was educated at Daventry Academy, where he became interested in physical science. His first ministry was at Needham Market, Suffolk, in 1755, and he was minister at Nantwich from 1758 to 1761. Later he became a tutor at Warrington Academy in Lancashire, where he was noted for his development of practical courses for students planning to enter industry and commerce. He also wrote a text, Rudiments of English Grammar (1761), which differed from older, classical approaches. He was ordained in 1762.
Priestley was encouraged to conduct experiments in the new science of electricity by the American statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin, whom he met in London in 1766. Priestley wrote The History of Electricity the following year. He also discovered that charcoal can conduct electricity. In 1767 Priestley became minister at Leeds, where he grew interested in research on gases. His innovative experimental work resulted in his election to the French Academy of Sciences in 1772, the same year in which he was employed by William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd earl of Shelburne, as librarian and literary companion.
During Priestley's experiments in 1774, he discovered oxygen and described its role in combustion and in respiration. An advocate of the phlogiston theory, however, Priestley called the new gas dephlogisticated air and did not completely understand the future importance of his discovery. The Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele may have discovered oxygen before Priestley, but did not make his work known in time to be credited with its discovery. Priestley also isolated and described the properties of several other gases, including ammonia, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. During his career, Priestley remained opposed to the revolutionary theories of the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who gave oxygen its name and correctly described its role in combustion.
In 1780 Priestley left his position with Petty because of religious differences. He became a minister in Birmingham. By this time he had turned to Unitarian thinking, and was considered a religious radical. His book, History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782), was officially burned in 1785. Because of his open support of the French Revolution, his house and effects were burned by a mob in 1791. He went to live in London, and in 1794 he emigrated to the United States, where he pursued his writing for the remainder of his life. Priestley died in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, on February 6, 1804. His posthumously collected Theological and Miscellaneous Works (25 volumes, 1817-1832) and Memoirs and Correspondence (2 volumes, 1831-1832) cover a wide variety of subjects in science, politics, and religion.
Priestley was born on March 13, 1733, in Fieldhead, Yorkshire, the son of a Calvinist minister. Priestley trained as a minister of the Dissenting church, which comprised various churches that had separated from the Church of England. He was educated at Daventry Academy, where he became interested in physical science. His first ministry was at Needham Market, Suffolk, in 1755, and he was minister at Nantwich from 1758 to 1761. Later he became a tutor at Warrington Academy in Lancashire, where he was noted for his development of practical courses for students planning to enter industry and commerce. He also wrote a text, Rudiments of English Grammar (1761), which differed from older, classical approaches. He was ordained in 1762.
Priestley was encouraged to conduct experiments in the new science of electricity by the American statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin, whom he met in London in 1766. Priestley wrote The History of Electricity the following year. He also discovered that charcoal can conduct electricity. In 1767 Priestley became minister at Leeds, where he grew interested in research on gases. His innovative experimental work resulted in his election to the French Academy of Sciences in 1772, the same year in which he was employed by William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd earl of Shelburne, as librarian and literary companion.
During Priestley's experiments in 1774, he discovered oxygen and described its role in combustion and in respiration. An advocate of the phlogiston theory, however, Priestley called the new gas dephlogisticated air and did not completely understand the future importance of his discovery. The Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele may have discovered oxygen before Priestley, but did not make his work known in time to be credited with its discovery. Priestley also isolated and described the properties of several other gases, including ammonia, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. During his career, Priestley remained opposed to the revolutionary theories of the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who gave oxygen its name and correctly described its role in combustion.
In 1780 Priestley left his position with Petty because of religious differences. He became a minister in Birmingham. By this time he had turned to Unitarian thinking, and was considered a religious radical. His book, History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782), was officially burned in 1785. Because of his open support of the French Revolution, his house and effects were burned by a mob in 1791. He went to live in London, and in 1794 he emigrated to the United States, where he pursued his writing for the remainder of his life. Priestley died in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, on February 6, 1804. His posthumously collected Theological and Miscellaneous Works (25 volumes, 1817-1832) and Memoirs and Correspondence (2 volumes, 1831-1832) cover a wide variety of subjects in science, politics, and religion.
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