For this presentation, it was nice to have the visual of the assigned video beforehand because it allowed us to piece it together with the slideshow. I also enjoyed the class discussion throughout; it was engaging for the topic and we could dive deeper into the subject matter. On the content itself, I thought it was interesting how Priestley discovered something essential for life by simply tinkering with experiments at home. It can be difficult to understand that type of experimenting in modern science because of how much has already been discovered. Nowadays, it seems virtually impossible for a major discovery to be made in someone’s home laboratory.
I am glad to hear the video was helpful. I thought it did a good job telling the basic story but found it lacking in understanding of the characters involved. I loved how it used original quotes throughout though. Yes, you are right that discoveries in one’s kitchen will be a rarity in modern times, but I thought the class did a good job of teasing out some of the factors that are the same and those that are different when comparing scientific eras.