Priestley

[ preest-lee ]

noun

1. J(ohn) B(oyn·ton) [boin, -t, uh, n, -tn], 1894–1984, English novelist.
2. Joseph, 1733–1804, English chemist, author, and clergyman.

Priestley

/ ˈpriːstlɪ /

noun

1. PriestleyJ(ohn) B(oynton)18941984MEnglishWRITING: author J ( ohn ) B ( oynton ). 1894–1984, English author. His works include the novels The Good Companions (1929) and Angel Pavement (1930) and the play An Inspector Calls (1946)
2. PriestleyJoseph17331804MEnglishSCIENCE: chemistPOLITICS: political theoristRELIGION: clergyman Joseph. 1733–1804, English chemist, political theorist, and clergyman, in the US from 1794. He discovered oxygen (1774) independently of Scheele and isolated and described many other gases

Priestley

/ prēst′lē /

1. British chemist who discovered oxygen (1774) and 10 other gases, including hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia.

Biography

Raised a strict Calvinist, Joseph Priestley originally hoped to become a minister, but his exposure to and interest in more liberal theological and philosophical issues ultimately led him to the calling of science. When Priestley met Benjamin Franklin in 1766, Franklin's enthusiasm for experimentation with electricity inspired Priestley to conduct his own experiments. One of Priestley's first discoveries was that graphite conducts electricity. Intrigued by the quality of the air emitted by fermentation at a nearby brewery, he later developed an improved technique for isolating and storing gases—at the time understood as varieties of air—in sealed glass vessels. Priestley also noted that the “damage” done to air by the respiration of animals, which slowly rendered it less and less life-sustaining for animals, was reversed by the respiration of plants. Using a magnifying glass to focus the Sun's rays on a piece of mercuric oxide and capturing the emitted gas, he discovered that this gas made a candle burn more brightly and could keep a mouse alive while all the other gases he tested extinguished the candle's flame and killed the mice. Priestley did not appreciate the full implications of his discovery, however. After he discussed his results with the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, Lavoisier repeated Priestley's experiments, showing that combustion required the presence of Priestley's gas and implied that air was not an element but was made up of various parts. Lavoisier named the gas oxygen, and the modern theory of combustion was born.

Example Sentences

Miranda Priestley berating her magazine underlings in The Devil Wears Prada.

From The Daily Beast

But until the time of Priestley few ever disputed the advantages derivable from a National Church.

From Project Gutenberg

At a later period he had been attracted by Hartley, Berkeley, and Priestley.

From Project Gutenberg

It may, I think, be said that Hales deserved the title usually given to Priestley, viz.

From Project Gutenberg

Priestley broke his leg and lost his case, and legal history does not record his future career.

From Project Gutenberg

The failure of Priestley, the Lincoln butcher boy, settled the law of America as completely as it did the law of this country.

From Project Gutenberg