Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List
A World on Fire by Joe Jackson

A World on Fire

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

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

By Joe Jackson

By Joe Jackson

By Joe Jackson

By Joe Jackson

Best Seller
Paperback $16.00

Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9780143038832

Ebook $7.99

Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9781440695971

All Formats
+
    A World on Fire by Joe Jackson
    Paperback $16.00
    Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9780143038832

    Also available from:

    See All Formats (1) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $16.00

      Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9780143038832

      Also available from:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Feb 27, 2007 | ISBN 9781440695971

      Available from:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About A World on Fire

    Like Charles Seife’s Zero and Dava Sobel’s 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 Lavoisier—the former exiled, the latter executed on the guillotine—A World on Fire illustrates the perilous place of science in an age of unreason.

    About A World on Fire

    Like Charles Seife’s Zero and Dava Sobel’s 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 Lavoisier—the former exiled, the latter executed on the guillotine—A World on Fire illustrates the perilous place of science in an age of unreason.

    Also by Joe Jackson

    The Thief at the End of the World
    See all books by Joe Jackson

    Also by Joe Jackson

    The Thief at the End of the World
    See all books by Joe Jackson

    About Joe Jackson

    Joe Jackson is the author of four works of nonfiction and a novel. He was an investigative reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot for 12 years, covering criminal justice and the state’s death row. He lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He… More about Joe Jackson

    About Joe Jackson

    Joe Jackson is the author of four works of nonfiction and a novel. He was an investigative reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot for 12 years, covering criminal justice and the state’s death row. He lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He… More about Joe Jackson

    Product Details

    Category: Science | Biography & Memoir | History

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Penguin Books
    Feb 27, 2007 | 448 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 | ISBN 9780143038832

    Category: Science | Biography & Memoir | History

    Ebook | $7.99
    Published by Penguin Books
    Feb 27, 2007 | 432 Pages | ISBN 9781440695971

    People Who Read A World on Fire Also Read

    ‹ ›
    Dead Wake
    Ghettoside
    The Fall of the House of Dixie
    Embers of War
    The First Clash
    Pilgrimage
    The Arabs
    Sahara Unveiled
    The Eichmann Trial
    The Challenge for Africa
    A Mighty Long Way
    Travelling Heroes
    Conquistador
    The Stillborn God
    The Almanac of Political Corruption, Scandals, and Dirty Politics
    Nonviolence
    In Spite of the Gods
    Twilight at Little Round Top
    The Essential Writings of Machiavelli
    Roumeli
    Voices of War
    America's Game
    Waterfront
    Last Voyage of Captain Cook
    Mountains of the Mind
    The Girl in the Red Coat
    100 Suns
    A History of Zionism
    When Genius Failed
    The Multiple Identities of the Middle East
    Catch Me If You Can
    Trouble in Mind
    The Name of War
    Love Thy Neighbor
    Myth and Meaning
    Tao Te Ching
    Land of Desire
    Black Women in White America
    The Rediscovery of North America
    Make No Law
    The Promised Land
    When the Mind Hears
    The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
    Common Ground
    From Socrates to Sartre

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Praise

    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)

    Table Of Contents

    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

    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    TASTE img

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!