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| On ] ], Priestley married Mary Wilkinson of Wrexham, and by ] ] the combination of his finances and her health caused him to relocate to Leeds. He there took charge of the Mill Hill congregation. In Leeds Priestley also published two political works, ''Essay on the First Principles of Government'' ] and ''The Present State of Liberty in Great Britain and her Colonies'' ], and also in 1769 '''Remarks on Dr. Blackstone's Commentaries''' where he defended constitutional rights of dissenters against ]. | |||
| Priestley's house was next to a ] and Priestley began to experiment with the gas given off by fermenting ]. His first experiments involved demonstrating that the gas would extinguish lighted wood chips. He then noticed that the gas appeared to be heavier than normal air as it remained in the vats and did not mix with the air in the room. The gas, which Priestley called "fixed air" and had already been discovered and named "mephitic air" by ], was ]. Priestley discovered a method of impregnating water with the carbon dioxide by placing a bowl of water above a vat of fermenting ]. The carbon dioxide soon became dissolved in the water (producing ]) and Priestley found that the impregnated water developed a pleasant sweet acidic taste. | |||
| He began to offer the treated water to friends as a refreshing drink. In 1772 Priestley published a paper entitled ''Impregnating Water with Fixed Air'' in which he described a process of dripping ] (or ] as Priestley knew it) onto chalk in order to produce carbon dioxide and forcing the gas to dissolve by agitating a bowl of water in contact with the gas. In December, 1772, Priestley was hired by ], as his personal librarian, and stayed in that post until 1780. | |||
| In 1772 Priestley wrote ''Observations on Civil Liberty and the Nature and Justice of the War with America''. Whilst tutoring his benefactor's sons at ] near ] in ] he discovered ], unaware of ]'s prior discovery sometime before 1773. Priestley's discovery was published in 1775 in '''Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air''' and in 1777 Scheele's discovery was published in his book ''Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire''. | |||
| Both Priestley and Scheele were unaware that oxygen was a ]; Priestley named the gas (which he had generated by heating red mercuric oxide with a "burning lens") "de-phlogisticated air", in accordance with the ] which held at the time. In his experiments he managed to identify eight distinct gases, disproving the commonly held view that there was just one "air". | |||
| There is a statue of Priestley in ]. | |||
| ==Birmingham== | ==Birmingham== | ||
Revision as of 13:08, 5 May 2006
Joseph Priestley (March 13, 1733 – February 8, 1804) was an English chemist, philosopher, dissenting clergyman, and educator.
He is known for his investigations of carbon dioxide and the co-discovery of oxygen.
Early life and education
He was born in Birstall parish, six miles from Leeds, Yorkshire. He learned a variety of languages, both classical and modern, in his youth, including several Semitic languages. He also studied what was then known as natural history. The school he attended, Batley Grammar School, still exists, and it now has a junior and infants section for children between the ages of 2-10 named Priestley House.
In 1751 he entered Daventry, a school under the auspices of Nonconformist, and there his religious views took shape. He became an adherent of Arianism and a fervent abolitionist. In September, 1755, he started as a parish minister in Needham Market, Suffolk, though he was not officially ordained until 18 May, 1762.
Because he stammered and the parish was not suited to his heterodox ideas, nor did they want a bachelor for their minister, he was unpopular in his Suffolk parish and he ultimately went to Nantwich, Cheshire. He established a private school in connection with the church in Nantwich where he preached, and derived his income from that school.
Birmingham
In 1780 he moved to Birmingham and was appointed junior minister of the New Meeting Society. He became a member of the Lunar Society, but his admiration for the French Revolution caused him to be driven out of the city in the Priestley Riots of 1791. He is remembered there by the Moonstones, and a more traditional statue in Chamberlain Square in the city centre. The latter is a 1951 recast, in bronze, of a white marble original by A. W. Williamson, unveiled in 1874.
London and USA
He next moved to London where he received an invitation to become morning preacher at Gravel Pit Chapel, Hackney. His three sons emigrated to the United States in 1793. The following June, Priestley followed them, seeking political and religious freedom. Although never naturalized, he lived in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, for the last decade of his life until his death at the age of 70.
Honours and extras
Priestley College in Warrington is a sixth form college (for 16–19 year olds) named in his honour. It is the largest sixth form college in Warrington, and within its main building, a statue of Joseph Priestley stands, watching over the students as they pass through the reception area.
The writer Hilaire Belloc was Priestley's great-grandson.
See also
External links
- The Joseph Priestley Society
- Joseph Priestley Information Website
- A comprehensive Biography at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
- A detailed biographical article from the Thoemmes Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers.
- Priestley Sixth Form College, Warrington, named for Joseph Priestley