Science, Joseph Priestly, and the “Guys in Lab Coats”

[ProgressiveBookClub]

In the author’s note to The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America, Steven Johnson asks when and why science became the sole preserve of “guys in lab coats” rather than a realm of knowledge of vital interest and importance to all citizens. (Witness GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee during the 2008 election campaign. Asked whether he believed in evolution, he replied, “I’m not planning on writing the curriculum for an eighth-grade science book.”)

This question arises out of Johnson’s book, which focuses on the accomplishments of Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), one of those all-around thinker/scientist/switch-hitter/jack-of-all-trades of the enlightenment. Figures like this you just can’t find anymore. Here’s a primer for Priestley, an extraordinary and intriguing man of astonishing achievements but largely forgotten by history–until now. (Note: Most of the following assertions are arguable, defended and explained more in-depth in the book. One—but only one—is completely false.)

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