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Traveling
with the Atom
Allegheny College (compiled by Dr.Glen E. Rodgers) Revised April 2009 |
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| Priestley calling for the head of King George III on a platter. His house and laboratory in Birmingham were destroyed by a "Church and King" mob in 1791. |
English chemist |
"Doctor Phlogiston" explaining away the Bible and expounding other incendiary views |
| A "Dissenter" or nonconformist in 18th century England, he discovered oxygen ("dephlogisticated air") as well as ammonia, hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide, (all water-soluble gases). His discovery of oxygen involved heating red mercuric oxide by directing the rays of the sun at the powder using a giant lens. He also found a way to add carbon dioxide ("fixed air") to water and is considered the father of the modern soft-drink industry. An ardent phlogistonist all his life, he called oxygen dephlogisticated air. After his house and laboratory in Leeds were burned to the ground in 1791, he moved to London and then emigrated to the United States in 1794 and lived in Northumberland, PA until his death in 1804. |
| BBC Biography |
| American Chemical Society Biography |
| Spartacus SchoolNet Biography |
| Woodrow Wilson Biography Page |
| Full biographical information on Sacks' book Uncle Tungsten | 109-111 |
| Full biographical information on Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2nd Ed. | 204-206 |
| The
Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley : A Study of His Life and Work from 1733
to 1773
by Robert E. Schofield |
The Cautionary Scientists, Kenneth S. Davis, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York (out of print) |
| Bowood House* (where Priestley discovered dephlogisticated air) | Calne, England (near Chippenham, Wiltshire and also Stonehenge). Near the MY but off the A4, midway between Calne and Chippenham (1,2) |
| Priestley's house in Calne and the nearby Doctor's Pond | Calne, England. The house is at 19 The Green |
| Birmingham City Museum: Lunar Society (A panel describes the 1791 riots and mob swarming over Priestley's house on Fair Hill) | Birmingham (West Midlands) City Museum (1) |
| Site of the Mill Hill Chapel (now presently occupied by a Unitarian Chapel -- it has a Priestley Hall inside); "Priestley House" office building built on the site of Priestley's house; brewery used to exist here where Priestley discoverd artificially carbonated water | Leeds (West Yorkshire) City Square: there's a plaque and statue honoring Priestley (1) |
| Joseph Priestley House in Northumberland, PA. Federal-style house, once the home and laboratory of Priestley, sits on a lhill overlooking the Susquehanna River(4) | 472 Priestley Avenue, Northumberland, PA 17857 Tues-Sat, 9AM - 5PM, Sun noon-5PM; closed Mondays |
| Northumberland, PA Burial Site(4) | Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland, PA, along with his wife, Mary and youngest son, Henry. The cemetery is about 1/2 mile from the historic site and within the town limits. |
| Scientific Historical Traveling | Rodgers Home Page |
