Event Description
An event about how early observations about the “air” continue to inform scientific understanding of the interrelationship between climate and human health. This conversation considers the legacy and work of Joseph Priestley, an 18th-century political philosopher, Unitarian minister, and pneumatic chemist whose experiments with different types of air helped identify, among other things, the gases now known as oxygen and carbon dioxide. An advocate for independent thinking in science as well as religion and politics, Priestley was also a strong supporter of the American Revolution and spent the last decade of his life living and working near Philadelphia. Taken together, Priestley’s ideas offer useful touchpoints for reflecting on the ways ideas about science, politics, and society have shaped one another both in the 18th century and in the present.
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required. For more information, please visit the event webpage.
Hosted by the American Philosophical Society.
