Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley was an 18th-century English theologian, philosopher, and natural scientist best known for his experiments with gases—particularly his discovery of oxygen, which he called "dephlogisticated air." A religious dissenter and political radical, Priestley's controversial views eventually drove him to emigrate to America.
His work influenced both chemistry and liberal religious thought.
Element eight, colorless gas
- phlogistonHypothetical fire essence
- soda waterCarbonated, unflavored water
- carbonationGas dissolved in liquid
- nitrous oxideAnesthetic inhalant causing euphoria
hydrogen chloride · gases · laboratory · experimentation · respiration · combustion · air pump · ammonia
Philosophy valuing reform, tolerance
- radicalismPursuit of sweeping change
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- democracyRule by the people
revolution · American Revolution · French Revolution · republicanism · emigration · Pennsylvania · Jefferson · Franklin
Religious talks to congregations
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- clergyOrdained religious officials collectively
- ministerReligious leader or serve
- scriptureSacred religious writings
doctrine · free inquiry · religious liberty · nonconformist · chapel · ordination · heterodoxy · Trinity
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
- associationismTheory linking ideas mentally
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
free will · mind · causation · epistemology · reason · skepticism · utilitarianism · Bentham
oxygen
Element eight, colorless gas
- phlogistonHypothetical fire essence
- soda waterCarbonated, unflavored water
- carbonationGas dissolved in liquid
nitrous oxide · hydrogen chloride · gases · laboratory · experimentation · respiration · combustion · air pump · ammonia · sulfur dioxide
liberalism
Philosophy valuing reform, tolerance
- radicalismPursuit of sweeping change
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
democracy · revolution · American Revolution · French Revolution · republicanism · emigration · Pennsylvania · Jefferson · Franklin · Adams
sermons
Religious talks to congregations
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- clergyOrdained religious officials collectively
- ministerReligious leader or serve
scripture · doctrine · free inquiry · religious liberty · nonconformist · chapel · ordination · heterodoxy · Trinity · ecclesiastical
materialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
- empiricismKnowledge through observation
- associationismTheory linking ideas mentally
metaphysics · free will · mind · causation · epistemology · reason · skepticism · utilitarianism · Bentham · ethics
- 18th Century InventorsBenjamin Franklin, James Watt, Eli Whitney, Jethro Tull
- British ScientistsIsaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick
- chemistry historyphlogiston, combustion, chemical equations, nomenclature, caloric theory
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
- Georgian BritonsJane Austen, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, John Keats, William Blake
- Midlands HistoryBirmingham, Norman Conquest, Coventry, Roman occupation, Leicester
Joseph Priestleyreligious conformity
Alignment with established doctrine
Joseph Priestleypseudoscience
Bogus methodology posing as factual