Exhibition: From Phlogiston to Oxygen

Where: SciTech Library exhibition spaceSciTech exhibtion

When: during SciTech opening hours

Before the discovery of oxygen, a substance called phlogiston was thought to exist. As scientists experimented on the substances of air, they published their accounts and theories. Some of these publications are now on display at the SciTech Library. Works by the brilliant Robert Boyle; “Hard Luck” Scheele; the philogistically faithful Richard Kirwan; and the first to publish on oxygen, Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier. By 1789 oxygen was firmly placed on the basic table of elements.

contact: Julie Price P: +61 2 9114 2321