The theory of the atom would remain unproven until 1803, when an English scientist presented the proof.
John Dalton was born in poverty in Eaglesfield, England, in 1766.
He was such a genius at mathematics when he was young that the village allowed him to open up his own school at the age of 12.
Dalton later became a teacher of mathematics and science at Manchester College, but his first love was meteorology.
It was his study of Earth’s atmosphere that led to the most important discovery in the history of chemistry, the discovery of the atom.
Dalton was the first scientist to prove that rain is caused by a decrease in temperature, not a change in atmospheric pressure.
Dalton wrote a book on meteorology that included a correct explanation of aurora borealis as a magnetic phenomenon.
John Dalton developed chemical symbols in the early 1800s.
He used these symbols in a table of atomic weights, which made chemistry a truly quantitative, or measurable, science.
Related Posts
-
How Did John Dalton Weigh Atoms and How Did Dalton Figure Out the Relative Atomic Weights of Elements?
John Dalton couldn't actually weigh atoms. The technology to do that was still over 100 years in the future, but he could do the next best thing. He could measure their relative atomic…
-
What Are the Five Points of John Dalton’s Atomic Theory and How Did Dalton Discover Color Blindness?
John Dalton was now convinced he had enough proof to back up an atomic theory. By 1803 he was lecturing on his theory, and by 1808 he had published his findings. His atomic…
-
Who Was Sir Isaac Newton and What Were Sir Isaac Newton’s Most Important Contributions To Science?
In 1665, the bubonic plague swept over London, England, killing tens of thousands of people. To try to stop the spread of the disease, students were sent home from universities and were not…
-
How Did John Dalton’s Study of Meteorology Lead To the Discovery of His Atomic Theory?
John Dalton was fascinated by Earth's atmosphere. He called air "elastic fluid" and made his own weather instruments, barometers, thermometers, and rain gauges, to study it. Dalton made daily readings of the air…
-
How Did Jöns Jacob Berzelius Create a Notation System For Chemistry By Improving On John Dalton’s Work?
John Dalton published his findings on atomic weights and his atomic theory in 1808 in A New System of Chemical Philosophy. The book also included a set of symbols for the elements to…
-
How Was John Dalton Wrong About Molecular Theory and When Was the Chemical Composition of Water Discovered?
Many scientists who make great leaps forward in their discoveries generate as many questions as they answer, like John Dalton and his atomic theory. Dalton had proven the existence of the atom, and…
