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

The Breakthrough Discovery of Oxygen is a gripping narrative that takes readers on an exhilarating journey through the lives of two rival scientists, Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier, who raced to solve the "riddle of air" in 18th-century Europe.

This book provides a detailed account of their groundbreaking experiments, meticulous research, and intellectual daring that revolutionized modern chemistry. With a passion for vivid detail, Jackson brings to life the personalities and turbulent social circumstances behind the science, from Priestley's desperate attempts to revive suffocated mice to Lavoisier's bold measurements of grain-by-painstaking-grain.

The result is a probing composite portrait of two martyrs for science who paid the ultimate price for their dedication to truth and discovery. Don't miss this captivating story of the breakthrough discovery of oxygen, a book that will be read, savored, and reflected upon by anyone interested in the fascinating history of science and the human spirit of innovation.