A World on Fire

A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen

Joe Jackson

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English

Penguin
27 February 2007

Mathematics & Sciences; Popular science; Inorganic chemistry; Geographical discovery & exploration

Like Charles Seifes Zero and Dava Sobels Longitude, this passionate intellectual history is the story of the intersection of science and the human, in this case the rivals who discovered oxygen in the late 1700s. That breakthrough changed the world as radically as those of Newton and Darwin but was at first eclipsed by revolution and reaction. In chronicling the triumph and ruin of the English freethinker Joseph Priestley and the French nobleman Antoine Lavoisierthe former exiled, the latter executed on the guillotineA World on Fire illustrates the perilous place of science in an age of unreason.

By: Joe Jackson
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: annotated edition
Dimensions: Height: 214mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 420g
ISBN: 9780143038832
ISBN 10: 0143038834
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 27 February 2007
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

"A World On FirePrologue: God in the Air Part I: Problem 1. The Cloth-Dresser's Son 2. The Sums and Receipts of Parallel Worlds 3. The Gas in the Beer 4. The Prodigy 5. The Goodness of Air 6. The Problem of Burning Part II: Solution 7. The Sentimental Journey 8. The Mouse in the Jar 9. The Twelve Days 10. The Language of War 11. ""King Mob"" 12. The World Out of Joint 13. The New World Epilogue: The Burning World Dramatis Personae Chronology Glossary of Chemical, Historical, and Scientific Terms Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index"

Reviews for A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen

An exhilarating narrative, sweeping us through great discoveries and international rivalries, yet strengthened by meticulous research and analysis. (Jenny Uglow, author of The Lunar Men) This tale of eminent scientists victimized by political ideology is told with passion and a splendid attention to vivid detail. (Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times)