About Joseph Priestley: 

                Joseph was born near Leeds, England March 13, 1733. Priestley's family was very religious, they were Calvinists. He was training to become a minister but his liberal beliefs had conflicted with his church beliefs. He eventually became a pastor in 1767. What was interesting was that he had never taken a science course in his life and yet that's what he decided to do for the rest of his life at one point. His views of science changed when he met Benjamin Franklin on a trip to London during the year of 1766. Strangely he met Ben, became interested in science, then still went on to become a pastor while still experimenting with science. 

From Church Minister to Scientist 

                 One day on Priestley's trip to England, he met a man named Benjamin Franklin. Ben told Joseph about his discovery of electricity and all of his other scientific experiments. His stories intrigued Joseph and inspired him to start learning about science and experimenting as well. Just a year after Joseph had met Ben in England he made a fairly big discovery. He discovered that graphite can conduct electricity. This allowed people to stop using carbon to conduct electricity. At the same time he made his discovery, he was becoming a pastor. 

 A Few of His Other Discoveries: 

• Graphite is Conductible
  
• Discovered Oxygen
• Carbonated Water
• Laughing Gas!