Priestley was born into a religious Calvinist family, and was encouraged by his parents to enter the ministry, not in the Church of England, but in the Dissenting church. In 1752 he enrolled in the new Dissenting Academy at Daventry, Northamptonshire, an educational institution founded by religious nonconformists. The academy offered a high-quality education, and encouraged his unorthodox approach to the curriculum, which he enriched by independently studying history, philosophy and science. In 1755 he became assistant minister to a Presbyterian congregation in Suffolk, but his heretical views gradually alienated the congregation. After three years he transferred to another more sympathetic congregation where he was allowed to open a highly successful day school with 36 students. Science experiments were an enticing feature of the curriculum. In 1761 his success as an educator led to his appointment as a tutor at Warrington Academy in Lancashire where he developed new courses emphasizing history, science...