The Invention Of Air

I've mentioned in passing here (and on Twitter) that I've been writing a new book this summer, and since I'm now several drafts into it, I figured it was about time I shared some more detailed news about the project. It's a another book in the vein of The Ghost Map -- an idea book wrapped around an historical narrative, and like Ghost Map, it has an organizing theme of how innovative ideas emerge and spread in a society, while integrating many different threads along the way: 18th-century London coffeehouse culture; the Adams-Jefferson letters; the origins of ecosystem science; the giant dragonflies of the Carboniferous Era; the impact of energy deposits on British political change; the discovery of the gulf stream; the Alien and Sedition acts; Jefferson's bible; the Lunar Society; mob violence; Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions; Ben Franklin's kite experiment.

The book is centered on the life of Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century British polymath who most people know as the discoverer of oxygen, though the story of that "discovery" is a very complicated one. What drew me to Priestley originally is another, less contested (and much less recognized) discovery: he was the first person to realize that plants were creating oxygen, in 1771. So in a way Priestley lies at the very beginning of the ecosystems view of the world: the air we breathe is not some inevitable fact of life on earth, but something manufactured as part of a wider system by other organisms on the planet. But Priestley turns out to be bound up with the American Founding Fathers in all sorts of fascinating ways: he was best friends with Franklin for the last ten years or so that Franklin lived in London, and his writings on religion -- Priestley also helped establish the first Unitarian Church in England -- had the single most dramatic impact on Thomas Jefferson's eclectic Christianity. Priestley's radicalism ends up provoking the Birmingham Riots of 1791, which ultimately drive him to emigrate to America, where he becomes a central figure in the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the falling out -- and ultimate reconciliation -- between John Adams and Jefferson. 

In a real sense, Priestley was a kind of lost Founding Father: a hugely important figure to Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson who is barely mentioned today in most accounts of the revolutionary generation. To give you some sense of his role: in the final correspondence between Adams and Jefferson, starting in 1812, Priestley is mentioned 52 times, while Franklin is mentioned five times, and Washington only three. And when you see the Founders through the lens of Priestley's life, it changes the way we think about the values of the revolutionary generation. (For one, it makes it clear how thoroughly integrated science was with their political worldviews.) So this is, in a sense, my version of the Founding Fathers genre: a Long Zoom history of that period, with chemistry, thermodynamics, information theory, neuroscience, and cultural history onstage along with the usual Great Men.

It's called The Invention Of Air, and it will arrive in bookstores the day after Christmas in the U.S. (You can already pre-order on Amazon.) I'm really excited about this book, and hope you all get a chance to read it.

Comments

[Kris]

The Amazon link in the last paragraph goes to the audiobook.

The hardcover edition can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Air-Steven-Johnson/dp/1594488525/

[Steven]

thanks! fixed the URL.

[Scott M.]

Wow, this is perfect timing for me. I've just finished both a Jefferson and a Franklin bio, watched the Adams miniseries, and am starting a Madison bio.

Congrats! Can't wait to read it!

[Michael Turro]

Very nice... this made my day! Now I have yet another reason to look forward to the Holidays. BTW - Ghost Map was great - should be a movie.

[Alex]

The day *after* Christmas! There goes a perfect gift idea, looks like I'll be pre-ordering for myself instead.

As big a fan as I am of your work, this topic has me more excited than anything you've ever done. Can't wait.

[glory]

no communist manifesto!? http://lopati.pitas.com/midmay_00.html (may 14 ;)

[Simon]

Really enjoyed The Ghost Map, so I'm very much looking forward to getting my hands on this book, when will it be available in Europe do you know?

[Adam]

This book looks incredible. I cannot wait to read this.

[marrije]

Oh, sounds great! It's on my wishlist, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

On a different note: I do wish your Palin prediction would come true...

[Chris Brogan...]

I'm so excited to read this one. I started in Everything Bad, and what I like about your projects is how diverse and how applicable they can be.

And man, the Daily Show? I have two goals before the end of 2010. TED or The Daily Show. It depends how selfish I am, I guess. : )

[Hugo Hardy]

I loved The Ghost Map. This is what brought me to your blog. Can't wait to read this new book. But I'll wait for the paperback edition, which, I hope, will have a nicer cover (or is this red cover a temporary one?).. ;-)

[Brenda]

oh awesome! i love your books and can't wait to read this one.

[jabc]

I can't wait, either. Just finishing Mind Wide Open - loving it.

[independant bookseller]

You can pre-order ANY book from ANY other bookstore. Why did Amazon get special advertisement? Please, your local bookseller is looking out for your needs - support them!

[Ghost Map]

I became a fan with Ghost Map. I agree with the above poster that it should be made into a movie. It's eerie how much Paul Giamatti looks like Edwin Chadwick. heh.

Looking forward to the new book!

[Jeannelle]

Today I heard you interviewed on the Science Friday show on NPR. Your book sounds absolutely fascinating, with the intersection of Priestley, Adams, Jefferson....I can't wait to find it and read it.

[Ron Kley]

Stephen -- In the course of your research on Priestly, you must have come across the name of Benjamin Vaughan, who had been a student of Priestley's in England, and who was instrumental in convincing Priestly to emigrate to the U.S. He also corresponded with Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, et. al., and was instrumental in negotiating some key provisions of the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War. He has been generally ignaored by Historians, but there is a wealth of documentary material concerning his life scattered through a number of repositories. If you might have any interest in the man, I'd be happy to point you to his paper trail.

Regards,
Ron

[Frank Lussier]

The Invention of Air

I enjoyed this book very much.

Just for the record (page-205,line 7), intelligent design is not a discovery it is a label for creationism, a religious belief.

David McCullough's biography on John Adams somewhat turned me off on Jefferson. Your book turned me back on. Do you recommend a particular Jefferson biography ?

Thank you.

Frank Lussier
Naugatuck, CT

[RemyC]

I'm loving your book... bought it because of the chapter The Electricians.

Have you ever visited the Bakken Museum of Electricity in Life in Minneapolis? Or the Burndy Library collection at MIT?

These are both depositories of all the original writings from the pioneers of electricity.

[Ross]

Hi Steven, I saw you on Colbert this week - awesome! Does the name "Ron Blatchley" ring a bell with you? He is the re-enactor of Joseph Priestley at the Priestley house in Northumberland, Pa. I live near the neighboring town of Sunbury. My first encounter with Ron was as an elementary student on a field trip to the Priestley House. Ron, playing Joseph, did a trick where he "turned pennies into gold"! Later, Ron was my chemistry teacher in high school, as well as my landlord, we worked together on building projects, and my wife is a colleague of his wife Fran. A few years ago, we went to see Ron do his reenactment, but got there early. A charter bus pulled up, and all the people who got out had British accents. I made inquiries, and found out they were all members & families of the Royal Chemists, or something like that, who flew over to honor Joseph Priestley on the 200th anniversary of "the birth of modern chemistry". Apparently Priestley is also credited with creating the main scientific methods used by chemists today as well. When I realized their children were unlikely to have pennies on hand, and knowing about the trick, I went into my car coin-stash & started handing out pennies to their kids. However, some of the moms started giving me the "hairy eyeball", until my wife explained WHY, LOL! Anyhow, if you never interviewed or met Ron, it would behoove you to have a chat with him, since he too is a Priestley expert, in the 'second person' at least! Send me an email & I'll put you in touch with him. He would be honored, I'm sure! btw, Sunbury is where Edison lit the first building in the world with electric lights. So, within two neighboring towns, you have "The Inventions of Air AND Light"! Regards, Ross rossg@ptd.net

[Ross]

Hello Steven,

This just in: Funding for the Priestley House is in trouble, due to Pa State cuts.
http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_068073634.html

Ross

[Term Papers]

Blogs are so interactive where we get lots o informative on any topics nice job keep it up !!

[David Derbes]

Hi, Steven Johnson.

I enjoyed your "Invention of Air" immensely. I have long felt I should know much more about Priestley because of his work with electricity (I'm a high school physics teacher with an abiding interest in the history of physics and math.) Priestley's friendship with Jefferson and his emigration to the US were completely new to me.

I wanted to mention a couple of things to you. At least twice you state or imply that in effect only the relatively well to do had time to do science (at least in the era before government or academic support for research became the standard.) I vaguely recall from a Greek course I had a long time ago that the Greek word σχωλια (scholia; long o) means "leisure". I don't have an OED around to verify that the Latin "schola" that is usually cited as the origin for scholar, school and all that is in fact derived from the Greek for leisure, but that's my guess.

The second thing is that Priestley did something astonishing in physics that you mention, but I think do not give appropriate emphasis to. Franklin discovered that if he gave an electric charge to a tin can, the inside of the can was not electrified. (Faraday did the same thing, and the classroom demonstration is often called "Faraday's Bucket".) Priestley brilliantly linked this to a very difficult result in Newton's Principia; that within a hollow spherical shell of mass, there is no gravity. This follows from the inverse square nature of gravity. Priestley suggested that a hollow metal sphere be made, given a charge on the outside and be examined to see if there were any electrical effect inside. Were there not, this would establish at a stroke the inverse square law, found only approximately by Charles Auguste Coulomb twenty years later. Most freshman college physics books mention this brilliant insight of Priestley's. A very nice demonstration is provided by an old (and almost impossible to find) high school video called "Coulomb's Law" by Eric M. Rogers. Princeton is likely to have a copy as Prof. Rogers taught there for many years. I have a copy of dubious provenance (and less than optimum quality); email me and I'll provide you with a DVD.

Best wishes,
David Derbes

[JO CARMICHAEL]

I WATCHED YOU ON CSPAN. WONDERFUL, YOUR ENTHUSIASM IS CAPTIVATING.

I WAS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN FINDING YOUR BOOK TO FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PRIESTLY STUDYING THE WORDS THAT JESUS ACTUALLY USED GOING BACK TO THE EARLIER LANGUAGES I GUESS.
WOULD LOVE TO FIND THAT INFORMATION.

[Warren Wightmnan]

I have been turned off to this book by your comment on the very first page of the preface in which you diss a presidential candidate for his response to the question of whether he believed in evolution. You quote him as saying that he wasn't planning to write an eighth grade science book but was running for the office of the president of the United States. Your take on this was that he didn't think science was a proper concern for a president. I think you mis-read his comment. It apparently didn't occur to you that the controversy over teaching evolution in public schools is a matter of law rather than executive fiat and that the president would get into the argument only if a bill related to the matter were put on his desk to sign. For the most part, public educational is controlled by state law, not federal law, whch further removes the president from the controversy. To shape a large part of your book around such a shallow interpretation of the candidate's remarks has cooled my ardor for reading further. Sorry.