Complex sentence: In the 1770s Ingenhousz became interested in gaseous exchanges of plants prior to reading about the work of scientist Joseph Priestley (1733--1804), who found out that plants make and absorb gases.
Split into simpler sentences: In the 1770s Ingenhousz became interested in gaseous exchanges of plants. He did this before reading about the work of scientist Joseph Priestley (1733--1804), who found out that plants make and absorb gases.