Why was Joseph Priestley elected to the Royal Society of London in 1766?

Joseph Priestley was elected to the Royal Society of London in 1766 based on the results of his electrical experiments.1

Through these investigations, Priestley anticipated the inverse square law of electrical attraction, discovered that charcoal conducts electricity, and identified a relationship between electricity and chemical change. These findings were part of a broader scientific approach he developed after meeting Benjamin Franklin, which prioritized the accumulation of empirical "facts" over theoretical hypotheses.1