How John Dalton's meteorological studies led to the discovery of atoms
In this episode of "Profiles in Chemistry," Arnold Thackray, founder of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF), describes how a plainspoken schoolmaster named John Dalton published the seminal book on meteorology, which later led to his discovery of the nature of atoms. Thackray shows these books and some of Dalton's personal letters from the Sidney M. Edelstein Rare Book Room at CHF's Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library of Chemical History. For more information on John Dalton, visit http://ow.ly/l3RKw
About John Dalton
John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist, and meteorologist whose work laid the foundations of modern atomic theory and stoichiometric chemistry. Building on earlier ideas about the indivisibility of matter and his own precise measurements of combining ratios, Dalton proposed that each chemical element consists of identical atoms of characteristic weight, and that compounds are formed when atoms of different elements combine in fixed whole-number pr...
More about John Dalton→Added
Know someone who'd love this clip?
Help us preserve music history — share it with friends and fellow fans.
