Most Popular
Recent Blog Posts
National Features >
Making HistoryA footnote in many other tales, Joseph Priestly finally gets his own book.By Mark DragottaPublished on January 15, 2009 at 1:00amJoseph Priestley invented soda water, discovered that plants emit oxygen, co-founded the Unitarian Church in England, wrote what was possibly the first popular science book, befriended Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, had breakfast with George Washington, influenced the writing of the Jefferson Bible, became a target of the Alien and Sedition Acts, and indirectly ignited the Jefferson/Adams letters one of the great American political discourses. This guy just keeps popping up at all these turning points in history and has such a great impact, says Steven Johnson, author of The Invention of Air. Its exactly that Forrest Gump-like quality of Priestleys life that piqued Johnsons interest in the somewhat forgotten scientist/theologian/political thinker, who often ended up residing in historical footnotes. I was going to write a broader book on innovation and discovery, and I stumbled on this story of Priestleys oxygen experiments and the American connection, Johnson says. There was one turning point where I read that Jefferson said Priestley had the single biggest effect on his religious beliefs and had even kept him a Christian. I thought, This is a side of the Founding Fathers I hadnt heard. Im going to write a whole book on this guy. Johnson will discuss and sign the book tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover, 2526 East Colfax Avenue; admission is free. For more information, call 303-322-7727 or go to www.tatteredcover.com.
write your comment
|