PHILOSOPHER

Joseph Priestley

1733 - 1804

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Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist who published over 150 works. Priestley is credited with his independent discovery of oxygen by the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide, having isolated it in 1774. During his lifetime, Priestley's considerable scientific reputation rested on his invention of carbonated water, his writings on electricity, and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Joseph Priestley has received more than 1,531,645 page views. His biography is available in 71 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 68 in 2019). Joseph Priestley is the 129th most popular philosopher (up from 145th in 2019), the 161st most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 183rd in 2019) and the 12th most popular British Philosopher.

Joseph Priestley is most famous for his discovery of oxygen.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 78.62

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 71

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.94

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Joseph Priestleys by language


Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Joseph Priestley ranks 129 out of 1,089. Before him are Giambattista Vico, Marsilio Ficino, Oswald Spengler, Henri de Saint-Simon, Martin Buber, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. After him are Herbert Marcuse, Ramon Llull, Al-Tabari, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Leucippus.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1733, Joseph Priestley ranks 1. After him are Victoire of France, Christoph Martin Wieland, Magtymguly Pyragy, Carsten Niebuhr, Jean-Charles de Borda, Hubert Robert, Charles of Saxony, Duke of Courland, Siraj ud-Daulah, Daniel Solander, Philip Carteret, and Gottfried van Swieten. Among people deceased in 1804, Joseph Priestley ranks 2. Before him is Immanuel Kant. After him are Jacques Necker, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Alexander Hamilton, Wolfgang von Kempelen, Pierre Méchain, Johann Friedrich Gmelin, Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, Princess Carolina of Parma, and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.

Others Born in 1733

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Others Deceased in 1804

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Joseph Priestley ranks 161 out of 6,924. Before him are Eric Clapton (1945), C. S. Lewis (1898), Rosalind Franklin (1920), Mark Knopfler (1949), Mary Wollstonecraft (1759), and Humphry Davy (1778). After him are Mick Jagger (1943), Alfred Marshall (1842), William Gilbert (1544), Francis Crick (1916), Howard Carter (1874), and Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, Joseph Priestley ranks 12. Before him are Herbert Spencer (1820), William of Ockham (1285), Jeremy Bentham (1748), Roger Bacon (1220), John Wycliffe (1324), and Duns Scotus (1265). After him are Alcuin (735), John Venn (1834), Pelagius (360), William Godwin (1756), Thomas Carlyle (1795), and G. E. Moore (1873).

British born Philosophers

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