All I need is the air that I breathe

As the 250th anniversary of 'a new pure air' approaches, Cathryn Spence reflects on the 'furious free-thinker' and polymath who discovered oxygen

- Cathryn Spence

IT seems strange now to think that oxygen required discovery, so perhaps 'identifying' or 'isolating' would sit better. Whichever, I suspect that those who have experienced intense pain relieved by gas and air or the panic of gasping for breath calmed by an oxygen mask are immensely grateful to Dr Joseph Priestley (1733-1804).

For seven years, Priestley was employed by William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (17371805), as his librarian, which gave a way for the Earl to support Priestley's scientific work. Lord Shelburne, who became the Marquess of Lansdowne after serving as Prime Minister and securing peace with America, surrounded himself with a group of intellectuals passionate about political and economic reform, science, philosophy and non-conformist religion. They were called the Bowood Circlefor Bowood House, the Earl's Wiltshire seat -and included Benjamin Franklin, scientist, politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the US; André Morellet, a French economist and writer; the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism, based on his principle that 'it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong'; Étienne Clavière, financier and politician of the French Revolution; and Dr Richard Price, a non-conformist minister and mathematician, who encouraged Lord Shelburne to patronise Priestley.