Joseph Priestley Research Paper

Joseph Priestley lived and worked in England during the heart of the Enlightenment from 1733 to 1804. Priestley was educated in a variety of subjects including philosophy, language, literature, and science after attending the Dissenting Academy at Daventry. When his support for the American and French revolutions got out of hand in 1794, Priestley left England and resumed his work in Pennsylvania until he passed away in 1804. His colleagues were some of the most well-known scientists and politicians of their time including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. During his lifetime, Priestley was fascinated by electricity and the chemistry of gases. His eagerness to learn led to his achievements that greatly contributed to advances in creative political, religious, and scientific thought. …show more content…
By tapping into the unknown world of gases, Priestly challenged and dethroned the idea that “air is a simple elementary substance, indestructible and unalterable”, a concept that had “dominated science for 23 uninterrupted centuries” (Joseph Priestley and the Discovery of Oxygen). Priestley discovered 10 new gases: nitri
Priestley discovered 10 new gases: nitric oxide (nitrous air), nitrogen dioxide (red nitrous vapour), nitrous oxide (inflammable nitrous air, later called “laughing gas”), hydrogen chloride (marine acid air), ammonia (alkaline air), sulfur dioxide (vitriolic acid air), silicon tetrafluoride (fluor acid air), nitrogen (phlogisticated air), oxygen (dephlogisticated air, independently codiscovered by Carl Wilhelm Scheele), and a gas later identified as carbon