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.

More on [ Joseph Priestley ]

NPR Topics: Authors

Farewell Opus; Hello Pete, The Perfectly Practical Pig
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:37:00 -0400
After 30 years, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is bidding adieu to his charming, politically astute penguin of Bloom County and Opus. His new project is Pete & Pickles, a children's book about a very sad pig.
Artist Macaulay Decodes Body In 'Way We Work'
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:53:00 -0400
Best-selling author and illustrator David Macaulay takes a head-to-toe trip in The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body. He says illustrating how we work was so difficult, he almost gave up.
Extra! Extra! Unionist Bombs Wreck The 'Times'
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:24:00 -0400
Radical bombers battle strikebreaking capitalists while Clarence Darrow squares off against the "American Sherlock Holmes" in this very popular history of a trial that mixed murder, politics and celebrity in 1910 Los Angeles.
Rabbi's Son Visits Bible Belt In 'My Jesus Year'
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:20:00 -0400
In an effort to reconnect with his Jewish faith, Georgia-native Benyamin Cohen explored the Christianity across the "Bible Belt" of America. He documented his experiences in My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith.
Is America 'Too Insular' For A Literary Nobel?
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:12:00 -0400
Horace Engdahl, a Nobel Prize official, commented on Wednesday that the United States is "too isolated" and "too insular" to generate literary Nobel laureates. He said Europe remains the "center of the literary world."
NBA's Alonzo Mourning Touts 'Resilience' In Memoir
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:02:00 -0400
In 2000, the muscular, 6-feet-10-inch NBA star was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening kidney disease. Alonzo Mourning made a full recovery following a transplant. Now, he's written a memoir about the obstacles he had to overcome on the road back to the NBA.

Subscribe to Authors RSS feed