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Search - List of Books by Joseph Priestley

"It is no use speaking in soft, gentle tones if everyone else is shouting." -- Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (13 March 1733 (Old Style) — 6 February 1804) was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works. He is usually credited with the discovery of oxygen, having isolated it in its gaseous state, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Antoine Lavoisier also have a claim to the discovery.

During his lifetime, Priestley's considerable scientific reputation rested on his invention of soda water, his writings on electricity, and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). However, Priestley's determination to defend phlogiston theory and to reject what would become the Chemical Revolution eventually left him isolated within the scientific community.

Priestley's science was integral to his theology, and he consistently tried to fuse Enlightenment rationalism with Christian theism. In his metaphysical texts, Priestley attempted to combine theism, materialism, and determinism, a project that has been called "audacious and original". He believed that a proper understanding of the natural world would promote human progress and eventually bring about the Christian Millennium. Priestley, who strongly believed in the free and open exchange of ideas, advocated toleration and equal rights for religious Dissenters, which also led him to help found Unitarianism in England. The controversial nature of Priestley's publications combined with his outspoken support of the French Revolution aroused public and governmental suspicion; he was eventually forced to flee, in 1791, first to London, and then to the United States, after a mob burned down his home and church. He spent the last ten years of his life living in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

A scholar and teacher throughout his life, Priestley also made significant contributions to pedagogy, including the publication of a seminal work on English grammar, books on history, and he prepared some of the most influential early timelines. These educational writings were some of Priestley's most popular works. It was his metaphysical works, however, that had the most lasting influence: leading philosophers including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Herbert Spencer credit them among the primary sources for utilitarianism.

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Early Life and Education (1733—55)   more

Needham Market and Nantwich (1755—61)   more

Warrington Academy (1761—67)   more

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Joseph Priestley", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 365
A History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ Vol 3 Compiled from Original Writers Proving That the Christian Church Was at First Unitarian
An History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ Vol 2 Compiled From Original Writers Proving That the Christian Church Was at First Unitarian
An History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ Vol 4 Compiled From Original Writers Proving That the Christian Church Was at First Unitarian
An History of Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ Compiled from Original Writers Proving That the Christian Church Was at First Unitarian
Memoirs of Dr Joseph Priestley
2010 - Memoirs of Dr Joseph Priestley [Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences - Volume 1] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781108014199
ISBN-10: 1108014194
Genre: Science & Math
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Memoirs of Dr Joseph Priestley 2 Volume Set
2010 - Memoirs of Dr Joseph Priestley 2 Volume Set [Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781108014212
ISBN-10: 1108014216
Genre: Science & Math
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Letters to Mr Volney occasioned by a work of his entitled Ruins and by his letter to the author By Joseph Priestley
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity Volume 2
2010 - An History of the Corruptions of Christianity Volume 2 (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781147722109
ISBN-10: 1147722102
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
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The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley
2010 - The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley [Volume 1] (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781153858878
ISBN-10: 1153858878
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The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley Volume 6
2010 - The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley Volume 6 (Paperback)Paperback
ISBN-13: 9781143287961
ISBN-10: 1143287967
Genre: Nonfiction
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Lectures On History and General Policy To Which Is Prefixed an Essay On a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life
Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers Canals and Railways of Great Britain As a Reference to Nichols Priestley  Walker's New Map of Inland Navigation
Notes On All the Books of Scripture For the Use of the Pulpit and Private Families Volume 3
The Discovery Of Oxygen Part 1
2010 - The Discovery of Oxygen Part 1 [1894] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781120875778
ISBN-10: 1120875773
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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A General History of the Christian Church From the Fall of the Western Empire to the Present Time
Tracts Volumes 12
2010 - Tracts Volumes 12 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781142092184
ISBN-10: 1142092186
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2010 - Index to the Bible [By J. Priestley] (Paperback)
2009 - Histoire De L'electricite V2 [1771 - French Edition] (Paperback)Hardcover
2007 - The Discovery of Oxygen Experiments By Joseph Priestley 1775 [1912 - Kessinger Publishing's Rare Reprints] (Paperback)
1993 - Priestley Political Writings [Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought] (Hardcover)Paperback
1983 - Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever Part I [The Philosophy of David Hume] (Other)
Discovery of Oxygen Pt 1 [Alembic Club Reprints.] (Hardcover)
Discovery of Oxygen Pt 2 [Alembic Club Reprints.] (Hardcover)
Doctrine of Heathen Philosophy [Scholars Facsimiles and Reprints, Vol 426] (Hardcover)
Course of Lectures on Oratory and Criticism [English liguistics, 1500-1800; a collection of facsimile reprints;no.126] (Hardcover)
The Rudiments of English Grammar 1761 [English linguistics, 1500-1800, a collection of facsimile reprints] (Other)
A Course of Lectures on the Theory of Language and Universal Grammar 1762 [English linguistics, 1500-1800: a collection of facsimile reprints] (Other)
An Essay on a Course of Liberal Education [Thoemmes Press - Thoemmes Library of Education] (Hardcover)
A Farewell Sermon [Revolution and Romanticism, 1789-1834] (Hardcover)
Letters to Burke 1791 [Revolution and Romanticism, 1789-1834] (Hardcover)