Joseph Priestley - naturalist, philosopher, chemist: biography, experiments, discoveries. Joseph Priestley is the king of accidental discoveries. Joseph Priestley The J Priestley Experience

PRIESTLEY, Joseph

English chemist, philosopher and public figure Joseph Priestley was born in Fieldhead (near Leeds, Yorkshire) into a weaver's family. In his youth, Priestley studied theology and even preached in the Protestant community. In 1752, he entered the Theological Academy in Deventry, where, in addition to theology, he studied philosophy, natural science, and studied languages - French, Italian, Latin, German, ancient Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Chaldean, Hebrew. In 1755, Priestley became a priest, but in 1761 he was accused of freethinking and became a teacher of languages at Warrington University. Here Priestley took a course in chemistry for the first time and became so carried away by it that he left his previous studies and began studying natural history and conducting chemical experiments.

At the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin, an American scientist and statesman, Priestley in 1767 wrote the monograph “The History of the Doctrine of Electricity.” For this work, Priestley was elected an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. At the same time, Priestley began his chemical experiments. The scientist became interested primarily in pneumatic chemistry; he began to study the “air” that is released during fermentation and does not support respiration and combustion. In 1771, Priestley made a remarkable discovery: he noticed that green plants in the light continue to live in the atmosphere of this gas and even make it suitable for breathing. Priestley's classic experiment with live mice under a hood, where the air is “refreshed” by green branches, was included in all elementary natural science textbooks and lies at the origins of the doctrine of photosynthesis. This “bound air” - carbon dioxide - was discovered 15 years before Priestley by Joseph Black, but it was Priestley who studied it in more detail and isolated it in its pure form. In 1772-1774. Priestley studied in detail the “hydrochloric acid air” he obtained from the interaction of table salt and sulfuric acid - hydrogen chloride, which he collected over mercury. By acting on copper with dilute nitric acid, he obtained “nitrate air” - nitric oxide; In air, this colorless gas turned brown, turning into nitrogen dioxide. Priestley also discovered nitrous oxide. His next discovery was “alkaline air” - ammonia.

Priestley's largest contribution to the chemistry of gases was his discovery of oxygen, made in the summer of 1774. The scientist observed the release of oxygen when mercury oxide, located under a glass cover, was heated without access to air, using a lens. Priestley collected gas in a mercury pneumatic bath. Out of curiosity, Priestley introduced a smoldering candle into the collected gas, which flared up unusually brightly. Priestley considered the gas he obtained to be “dephlogisticated air,” which is particularly good at supporting combustion due to its greater ability to absorb phlogiston than ordinary air.

Two months after the discovery of oxygen, Priestley, arriving in Paris, presented the results of his experiments to Lavoisier. The French chemist, who was actively involved in research on combustion processes, immediately realized the enormous significance of Priestley's discovery and used it to create his oxygen theory. Priestley, on the contrary, remained a staunch supporter of the phlogiston theory and defended his ideas even after Lavoisier's oxygen theory received general recognition.

In addition to his studies in chemistry, Priestley took an active part in political life. He opposed English colonial rule during the Revolutionary War in North America of 1775–1783, enthusiastically welcomed the French Revolution, and was an active member of the Society of Friends of the Revolution. On July 14, 1791, when Priestley and his associates gathered at his house to celebrate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a crowd burned down his house, where his laboratory and library were located. Priestley moved to London, and in 1794 emigrated to the USA, to Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where he spent the last ten years of his life.

Born in the town of Fieldhead near the English city of Leeds, in the family of a weaver. Due to financial difficulties, the parents gave the boy to be raised by his aunt. Joseph began to show early ability for science, and his aunt decided to give him a good education so that he could later become a pastor. Due to the fact that Priestley's religious views differed from the views of supporters of the Church of England, he entered the academy in Daventry, where he received a philological and theological education. This academy trained dissenter priests (opponents of the Anglican Church). Thanks to his aunt's care and his own diligence, by the time he graduated from the academy, Priestley was a well-educated man for his time, familiar not only with theological works, but also with the works of modern and ancient philosophers. He studied nine foreign languages - French, Italian, German, Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Chaldean.

Having received such purely humanitarian training, Priestley began his activities as a preacher in dissenter communities. After some time, he tries himself in the teaching field at the private school he opened. However, his talent as a teacher was fully revealed after 1761, when he began working as a teacher at Warrington Academy. During this period, he began his studies in the natural sciences, successes in which later brought him international fame. It was then that Priestley met with Franklin, who approved the young teacher’s interest in electrical problems.

Works in the field of physics of electricity

Discoveries in the field of chemistry

Subsequently, Priestley's scientific interests shifted to the field of chemistry, which he enriched with a number of important discoveries, and he can rightfully be considered one of the founders of modern chemistry. His main chemical research was devoted to the study of gases. In this area, he made a number of major discoveries. In Mr. Priestley discovered photosynthesis, discovering that air spoiled by combustion or respiration becomes again suitable for breathing under the influence of green parts of plants. In the city, he proved that during photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

Priestley's work became widely known in scientific circles. He was elected honorary doctor of the University of Edinburgh, a member of the Royal Society of London, and a foreign member of the Paris and St. Petersburg Academies of Sciences

Social and philosophical activities

Despite international recognition, Priestley was forced to move from city to city throughout his life in search of a decently paying job. He lived the longest in Birmingham, where from to performed the duties of a parish priest, and in his free time he conducted chemical experiments. In this city, Priestley participated in the work of the so-called “Lunar Society,” whose members were interested in scientific problems, mainly in natural science. Meetings of this society took place once a month on Mondays preceding the full moon - hence its name. The Society included people interested in science, regardless of their religious and political views. “We do not care,” said Priestley, “about the political and religious principles of each of us: we are united by a common love for science, which is enough, in our opinion, to unite everyone without distinction - Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, pagans, monarchists and Republicans."

Priestley adhered to very progressive ideas for the second half of the 18th century. philosophical and political views and was actively involved in their propaganda. In philosophy, he was a supporter of materialism, although he believed that the laws of the material world were created by divine reason (deism). After the end of the 18th century. Priestley defended with great force and passion the right of the people to revolt and overthrow tyranny. He became a member of the Friends of the Revolution society and, as a preacher, promoted the ideas of equality and brotherhood, defended freedom of conscience and religious tolerance. Priestley was the ideologist of the radical part of the English bourgeoisie during the era of the industrial revolution in England.

This activity, as well as Priestley’s ardent sympathies for the ideas of the Great French Bourgeois Revolution, aroused hatred of him from the reactionaries. On the 14th July, while a group of his friends were gathered at his place to celebrate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, by incitement the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Birmingham provoked an attack on his house. A crowd of fanatics destroyed and burned the house, destroyed Priestley's laboratory and library of manuscripts. Priestley himself and members of his family barely escaped the massacre and barely escaped.

The destruction of Priestley's house caused outrage not only in England, but also abroad. In France, funds were raised to restore the house and laboratory, and in September Priestley was proclaimed an honorary citizen of France. And yet, despite the help and support of friends, Priestley decided to leave his homeland and move to America, where his sons had previously emigrated. From this year until the end of his life, the scientist lived in America, doing mainly literary work. Priestley died in his great-grandson Henry Richardson is the most influential American architect of the 19th century.

Literature

Cheskis L. Joseph Priestley - English materialist of the 18th century. // Under the banner of Marxism. 1933, no. 5.
Cheskis L. Priestley’s philosophy // “Bulletin of the Com.Academy” 1935, No. 5.
Jaffe W. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804). // Advances in chemistry. 1938, vol. 7, issue 9. pp.1419-1429.
Budylina M.V. Unpublished letter from Joseph Priestley // Advances in Chemistry. 1939, vol. 8, issue 11. pp. 1742-1744.
Pankratov K.P. Materialism of Joseph Priestley // Scientific notes of the Leningrad State University. Series of Philosophical Sciences, 1947, vol. 1, no. 100. pp. 202-236.
History of Philosophy, vol. 1, M., 1957, pp. 615-19;
Mikhailovskaya T.A. Joseph Priestley and the natural sciences of the 18th century // Scientific works of graduate students and clinical residents. Issue 6. M., 1960. P.309-334.
Figurovsky N. A., Essay on the general history of chemistry. From ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century, M., 1969, p. 304-310.
Demin R.N. One of the so-called paradoxes of the ancient Chinese school of names and the doctrine of matter by Joseph Priestley // Philosophy and the future of civilization. Abstracts of reports and speeches of the IV Russian Philosophical Congress (Moscow, May 24-28, 2005): In 5 volumes. T.2. M., 2005. P.159-160.
Priestley's writings on philosophy, science and politics, ed., with an introduction by J. A. Passmore, N. Y. - L., 1965.
Crook, R. E. A Bibliography of Joseph Priestley. London: Library Association, 1966.
McEvoy, John G. "Joseph Priestley, "Aerial Philosopher": Metaphysics and Methodology in Priestley's Chemical Thought, from 1762 to 1781." Ambix 25 (1978): 1–55, 93–116, 153–75; 26 ( 1979): 16–30.
Crossland, Maurice. "The Image of Science as a Threat: Burke versus Priestley and the "Philosophic Revolution"". British Journal for the History of Science 20 (1987): 277–307.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what "Joseph Priestley" is in other dictionaries:

Joseph Priestley English Joseph Priestley ... Wikipedia

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (eng. Joseph Priestley, March 13, 1733 February 6, 1804) British dissenter priest, natural scientist, philosopher, public figure. He went down in history primarily as an outstanding chemist who discovered oxygen and... ... Wikipedia

Priestley: Jason Priestley (b. 1969) Canadian actor Joseph Priestley (1733 1804) English priest, chemist, philosopher, public figure. John Boyton Priestley (1894 1984) English novelist, essayist, playwright and theater director. Raymond ... Wikipedia

- (Priestley) Joseph (13.3.1733, Fieldhead, near Leeds, 6.2.1804, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, USA), English. materialist philosopher, chemist (he discovered oxygen), society. activist After graduating from theological academy, he became a priest... Philosophical Encyclopedia

- (1733 1804) English chemist, philosopher, supporter of deism. In 1794, persecuted by reactionary circles, he emigrated to the USA. Foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1780). In his essay Studies on Matter and Spirit (1777), he argued that nature... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Priestley Joseph (13.3.1733, Fieldhead, near Leeds, 6.2.1804, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, USA), English materialist philosopher, chemist, public figure. Born into a weaver's family. After graduating from theological academy, he became a priest.… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Priestley Joseph- (1733–1804) English philosopher, chemist, public figure. He developed and popularized the doctrine of D. Hartley that all mental processes, including abstract thinking and will, are carried out according to the laws of association rooted in the nervous system.... ... Great psychological encyclopedia

Priestley, Joseph- Joseph Priestley (1733 1804), English chemist, philosopher, supporter of deism. In 1794 he emigrated to the USA. In the essay “Research on Matter and Spirit” (1777), he argued that nature is material, spirit is a property of matter. Regardless of K. Scheele... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Joseph Priestley combined diverse talents. From his youth he was actively interested in literature, philosophy, linguistics, science and religion. And after he graduated with honors from school and theological academy, he made his choice in favor of worship, becoming a priest.

Initially, Joseph Priestley saw himself as a priest

However, this activity did not prevent him from realizing his scientific ideas. Convinced that it was Providence that had chosen him, Priestley began his research, or rather, he began to seriously study chemistry. It is worth noting that before this, the scientist already knew Latin, Ancient Greek, Chaldean and Hebrew, and, having been ordained, simultaneously taught foreign languages and literature at Warrington Academy. He also wrote the course “Fundamentals of English Grammar” and the monograph “History of the Teaching of Electricity.”

Priestley made the world's first bottle of sparkling water

Meanwhile, one of the scientist’s bright discoveries was carbon dioxide. Despite the fact that it was discovered earlier, it was Joseph Prisley who isolated it in its pure form. Watching the bubbles released during fermentation at a local brewery, he wondered: “What are they made of?” Priestley then suggested that the gas should be highly soluble in water. And without thinking twice, he placed containers of water over the brewing beer. Seeing that the water was charged, the scientist determined that the bubbles contained carbon dioxide. In 1767, Joseph Priestley produced the world's first bottle of sparkling water. He tasted the carbon monoxide solution and found it quite pleasant.

After some time, he presented a report on the properties of carbonated water to the Royal Scientific Society. There he clearly demonstrated a batch of soda water according to his own recipe - “Pyrmont water”. After this, sparkling water began to spread throughout the world, and Priestley was awarded a medal by the Royal Society of London. In 1771, he made a discovery about the role of carbon dioxide in plant respiration. The scientist noticed that green plants in the light continue to live in the atmosphere of this gas and even make it breathable. Joseph Priestley's classic experiment with live mice under a hood, where the air was “refreshed” by green branches, was included in all elementary natural science textbooks and lies at the origins of the doctrine of photosynthesis.

It was Priestley who invented the familiar eraser

Priestley later accidentally discovered that raw natural rubber could erase traces of graphite, in other words, pencil, better than the particles of bread that were used at the time for the same purpose. This is how the well-known eraser was born.

In 1772, Joseph Priestley, using dilute nitric acid on copper, first obtained “nitrate air” - nitric oxide. Subsequently, his discovery was transformed into a widely used anesthetic. By the way, in the same year Joseph Priestley was elected a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences.

In 1774, the scientist’s next discovery occurred - “alkaline air” or ammonia. To do this, he mixed powders of ammonium chloride (ammonia) and calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and suddenly felt a pungent odor of the new substance. This smell intensified when the mixture was heated, and when Priestley tried to collect the volatile reaction product by displacing water from an inverted vessel, it turned out that the new gas immediately dissolved in it. It was ammonia.

In the same year, he conducted another experiment, which in the future became another major contribution to the chemistry of gases. Joseph Priestley found one way to produce oxygen. Having placed a little powder of “mercurius calcinatus per se” - burnt mercury - under an inverted jar immersed in mercury, he took a small burning glass and directed the rays of the sun directly into the jar onto the powder. Then air began to emerge from the powder, which displaced the mercury from the jar. Priestley was very surprised that in this air a candle burns better and brighter than in an ordinary atmosphere, and he began to study this phenomenon.

Priestley discovered one way to produce oxygen

At first, he believed that the “new air” was nitrous oxide or “dephlogisticated nitrate air,” as the scientist himself called it. But later, after numerous experiments, Priestley realized that these were different gases. He called the new gas “dephlogisticated air” because he believed that it contained much less phlogiston than ordinary air or did not contain it at all. However, he himself was never able to fully explain the essence of this process.

In 1780, Joseph Priestley became an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

He was called the king of intuition. Joseph Priestley remained in history as the author of fundamental discoveries in the field of gas chemistry and the theory of electricity. He was a theosophist and priest, who was called an "honest heretic."

Priestley is the greatest intellectual of the second mid-18th century, who left a noticeable mark on philosophy and philology, and he was also the inventor of carbonated water and an eraser for erasing pencil lines from paper.

early years

The eldest of six children of a conservative clothier's family, Joseph Priestley was born in the spring of 1733 in the small village of Filshead near Leeds. Difficult circumstances of his early childhood forced his parents to give Joseph to the family of his aunt, who decided to prepare her nephew for the career of an Anglican priest. A strict upbringing and a good theological and humanitarian education awaited him.

Early demonstrated abilities and diligence allowed Priestley to successfully graduate from Betley Grammar School, where there is now a faculty named after him, and from the Theological Academy in Deventry. He took a course in natural history and chemistry at the University of Warrington, which prompted him to set up a home laboratory and begin independent scientific experiments.

Scholar-Priest

In 1755, Joseph Priestley became an assistant pastor, but was officially ordained in 1762. This was an unusual church minister. Well educated, he knew 9 living people and in 1761 he wrote the book “Fundamentals of English Grammar”. This textbook was relevant for the next half century.

Possessing a lively analytical mind, Joseph Priestley formed his religious beliefs by becoming familiar with the works of leading philosophers and theologians. As a result, he moved away from the dogmas that were instilled in him at birth. He went from Calvinism to Arianism, and then to an even more rationalistic movement - Unitarianism.

Despite the stuttering that he developed after an illness suffered in childhood, Priestley was engaged in a lot of preaching and teaching activities. Acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin, an outstanding scientist of that time, intensified Joseph Priestley's studies in science.

Experiments in the field of electricity

The main science for Franklin was physics. Electricity was of great interest to Priestley, and on the advice of one of the future founding fathers of the United States, in 1767 he published the work “The History and Present State of Electricity.” It published several fundamental discoveries that brought the author well-deserved fame in the circles of English and European scientists.

The electrical conductivity of graphite, discovered by Priestley, subsequently acquired enormous practical significance. Pure carbon has become a component of many electrical devices. Priestley described an experiment in electrostatics, as a result of which he concluded that the magnitude of electrical influences is similar to Newtonian ones. His assumption about the “inverse square” law was later reflected in the fundamental law of the theory of electricity - Coulomb’s law.

Carbon dioxide

Conductivity and charge interactions are not the only area of Priestley's scientific interests. He found research topics in the most unexpected places. The work that led to the discovery of carbon dioxide was started by him while observing brewing production.

In 1772, Priestley drew attention to the properties of the gas that was formed during the fermentation of wort. It was Priestley who developed a method for producing gas in the laboratory, discovered that it is heavier than air, makes combustion difficult and dissolves well in water, giving it an unusual, refreshing taste.

Photosynthesis

Continuing his experiments with carbon dioxide, Priestley conducted an experiment that began the history of the discovery of a phenomenon fundamental to the existence of life on the planet - photosynthesis. Having placed a green plant shoot under a glass container, he lit a candle and filled the container with carbon dioxide. After some time, he placed live mice there and tried to light a fire. The animals continued to live, and the burning continued.

Priestley was the first person to observe photosynthesis. The appearance of a gas capable of supporting respiration and combustion under a closed container could only be explained by the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide and release another, life-giving substance. The results of the experiment became the basis for the birth of global physical theories in the future, including the law of conservation of energy. But the scientist’s first conclusions were in line with the science of that time.

Joseph Priestley explained photosynthesis from the point of view of the phlogiston theory. Its author, Georg Ernst Stahl, assumed the presence of a special substance in flammable substances - weightless fluids - phlogistons, and the combustion process consists of the decomposition of the substance into its constituent components and the absorption of phlogistons by air. Priestley remained a supporter of this theory even after he made his most important discovery - the isolation of oxygen.

Main discovery

Many of Joseph Priestley's experiments led to results that were correctly explained by other scientists. He designed a device where the resulting gases were separated from the air not by water, but by another, denser liquid - mercury. As a result, he was able to release volatile substances that were previously dissolved in water.

The first new gas Priestley discovered was nitrous oxide. He discovered its unusual effect on people, which gave rise to its unusual name - laughing gas. Subsequently, it began to be used as a surgical anesthesia.

In 1774, from a substance later identified as mercury oxide, the scientist managed to isolate a gas in which the candle began to burn surprisingly brightly. He called it dephlogisticated air. Priestley remained convinced of this nature of combustion, even when Antoine Lavoisier proved that Joseph Priestley's discovery was a substance with properties that were essential for the entire process of life. The new gas was named oxygen.

Chemistry and life

Nitrous oxide, oxygen - the study of these gases provided Priestley with a place in Determining the composition of gases involved in the process of photosynthesis - the scientist’s contribution to biology. Experiments with electric charges, methods of decomposing ammonia using electricity, and work on optics gained the scientist authority among physicists.

The discovery made by Priestley on April 15, 1770 is not of such fundamental importance. It has made life easier for many generations of schoolchildren and office workers. The story of the discovery began with Priestley discovering how a piece of rubber from India perfectly erases pencil lines from paper. This is how rubber appeared - what we call an eraser.

Priestley's philosophical and religious beliefs were distinguished by their independence, which earned him fame as a rebellious thinker. Priestley's book The History of the Corruption of Christianity (1782) and his support for the revolutions in France and America aroused the ire of the most ardent English conservatives.

When he celebrated the anniversary with like-minded people in 1791, a crowd fueled by preachers destroyed Priestley's house and laboratory in Birmingham. Three years later he was forced to emigrate to the USA, where in 1804 his days ended.

Great amateur

Priestley's religious, social and political activities are a huge contribution to the intellectual development of Europe, America and the whole world. A materialist and staunch opponent of tyranny, he actively communicated with the most independent minds of that era.

This man was considered by many to be an amateur; he was called a scientist who had not received a regular and complete natural science education. Priestley was accused of not being able to fully understand the importance of the discoveries he made.

But another Joseph Priestley remained throughout the centuries. His biography is a bright page in world history. This is the life of an outstanding erudite, a convinced preacher of the most progressive ideas, an honorary member of all the leading scientific academies in Europe and the world - a Scientist who made a significant contribution to the formation of fundamental theories of natural science.

The Englishman Joseph Priestley, a chemist, naturalist, philosopher and part-time priest, was the first in the world to produce sparkling water in 1767. However, gas drinks entered mass production much later.

The history of the carbonated drink

Frequently visiting a neighboring brewer, Joseph Priestley noticed the fermentation of beer wort. As a scientist studying gases, his attention was attracted by the bubbles that were released.

Confident in the healing properties of the gas emitted, the priest tried to catch the vapors with glassware, but was not happy with the result. Deciding to act differently, he placed a couple of containers with mineral water directly above the wort. After waiting for some time, Priestley tasted the result of his experiments.

The result was amazing - the scientist expected to make a medicine, but what he got was a pleasant drink that tickled the tongue and nose! Soon they managed to make a whole bottle of real soda. Still hoping for the miraculous properties of his discovery, Joseph, five years later, read a report on the possible benefits of water saturated with carbon dioxide in the treatment of scurvy.

Impressed by the performance, the French Academy of Sciences accepted Priestley into its ranks. Soon the inventor published a book about his discovery. It was after this publication about this discovery that carbonated H2O went to the people, and the inventor was awarded a medal from the Royal Society.

From the artisanal method of saturating water with carbon dioxide “on the knee,” the production of soda was transferred to a technically more advanced area by Torbern Bergman, a scientist from Sweden. He created an apparatus that made it possible to saturate a liquid with carbon dioxide under pressure. Naming the device saturator, the inventor conveniently forgot about its existence, because he simply did not know what to do next.

New revolution and first sales

Only 13 years later, a watchmaker, jeweler and another inventor living in Switzerland, Johann Jacob Schwepp, improved the Bergman saturator. Schwepp began to produce carbonated, but still unsweetened, drinks on an industrial scale. He was pushed into action by his dream of creating non-alcoholic champagne.

After some time, Schwepp decided to reduce the cost and simplify production. Instead of real carbon dioxide, they began to use regular baking soda. This is how soda, beloved by the British, appeared. In 1792, the industrialist founded the Schwepp & Co company, which still exists today and is known as Schweppes.

It was only 14 years after the death of Jacob Schwepp that sweet lemonade was introduced for the first time. And soon they began to add fruit juices and recently discovered and isolated citric acid to the drink.

In 1851, production became so widespread that at the Great London Exhibition, which the company supplied with drinks, a fountain filled with Schwepp & Co soda was organized. By the way, this fountain still adorns the Schweppes logo.

No less accidentally and jointly, it was invented, which was later called popsicle.