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A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen
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A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen Paperback - 2007

by Joe Jackson

  • Used

This gripping account of a key tipping point in the history of science is set against the upheavals of a revolutionary age. 8-page photo insert.

Description

Penguin Books. Used - Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner’s name, short gifter’s inscription or light stamp.
Used - Very Good
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Ships from Wonder Book (Maryland, United States)
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About Wonder Book Maryland, United States

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With 3 stores less than 1 hour outside the DC/Metropolitan area (1 in Gaithersburg, 1 in Frederick and 1 in Hagerstown, MD), we have the largest selection of books in the tri-state area. Wonder Book and Video has been in business since 1980 and online since 1997. We have over 1 Million books for sale on our website and another 1 Million books for sale in our 3 locations. We have a very active online inventory and as such, we can receive multiple orders for the same item. We fill those orders on a first come first serve basis, but will refund promptly any items that are out of stock. Since 1980 it has always been about the books. ALL kinds of books from 95 cent children\'s paperbacks to five figure rare and collectibles. A merging of the old and new is where we started, and it is where we are today. Our retail stores have always been places where a reader can rush in looking for a title needed for a term paper that is due the next day, or where bibliophiles can get lost \"in the stacks\" for as long as they wish. In 2002 USAToday recognized us as \"1 of 10 Great Old Bookstores\", and we have been featured in numerous other newspaper and TV stories including Washington Post and CSpan.

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Details

  • Title A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Condition Used - Very Good
  • Pages 448
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books
  • Date February 27, 2007
  • Features Annotated, Bibliography, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # T08S-00368
  • ISBN 9780143038832 / 0143038834
  • Weight 0.88 lbs (0.40 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.44 x 5.54 x 1 in (21.44 x 14.07 x 2.54 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Discoveries in science, Oxygen
  • Dewey Decimal Code 546.721

Summary

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.

First line

A GOOD MEAL CHANGES EVERYTHING.

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Media reviews

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)

About the author

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 can be reached through his website, joejacksonbooks.com.

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