Happy Birthday, Atom

Shipud writes "200 years ago today (Oct. 21) John Dalton revolutionized chemistry by starting the process of turning it into an exact science. He presented the Table of Atomic Weights, at the Manchester literary and Philosophical Society. Dalton's work proposed atoms exist: and not just as an explanatory or philosophical tool. His theory laid the foundations for the periodic table of the elements (1869, Mendeleev), and indeed to all modern chemistry. The molecular weight of compounds is today measured in Daltons, the weight of a hydrogen atom. Read more about Mr. Dalton in today's Nature: a man of many interests, whose atomic theory preceded experimental evidence by a century. Read also about Daltonism -- and why it is named after him."

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Dalton vs. Rutheford

[Legendre]

Dalton (a chemist) proposed this atomic theory in 1803. 'Chemists' of the time were convinced, but the real scientists, physicists, weren't. In 1906 Boltzmann (a physicist) committed suicide because his theories, based on the atomic postulate, were not well-received. During a physics conference at the turn of the century, he was the only one to defend the atomic model. Other physicists of the time simply didn't buy it. in 1914 Rutheford (a physicist) finally verified experimentally the structure of the atom in a series of scattering experiments. One can't argue with experimental data. Physicists were finally convinced. (The folly of chemists can be demonstrated even today: ask them about their beloved Convervation of Mass 'law'). Dalton was a great guy, but more or less a footnote in scientific history. Did you know he obsessively collected weather data every day? Rutheford, Mendelev, or even Boltzmann would have been better choice as defender of the atomic model. But we woudln't expect slashdot editors to know the difference, would we? Physicists not only know everything, but they know everything better. Chemistry is just applied physics.