Joseph Priestley was a prolific writer, producing more than 150 different titles throughout his life. Born in Yorkshire, Priestley was a precocious child and intended to become a clergyman, but an illness at a young age left him with a stutter, preventing him from pursuing that career. Unperturbed, the young Priestley studied and wrote on an incredibly diverse range of subjects: from theology and politics to history and grammar. However, it is for his discoveries in science (then known as natural philosophy) that he is perhaps best known.

In 1772, Priestley followed his popular History of Electricity (RCIN 1090143) with this work on optics. Unlike his work on electricity, this book did not include any experiments, focusing primarily on the history of the subject, from Newton to the present. The book was unpopular and sold poorly, leading Priestley to abandon further histories of natural philosophy and focus instead on his own experiments. This turned out to be a good decision, as over the following decade, he made significant discoveries, most notably that of oxygen in 1775.