Of all of the many scientists who played a major role in the formation of the atomic theory, it is believed that Dalton, Rutherford, Thompson, Bohr, and Planck are the five most influential. The research of this theory has gone on for many years and each and every one of them have brought us closer to our current understanding of the atom today. Each one of them played a special role in the development process of the atom and most importantly, they all reflected on one another. Many influential scientists follow up on one another proving their own theories correct and in time, create challenges for the next scientist to question. This truly, is one of the main reasons we have gotten so far with the atom. These amazing discoveries mostly started taking effect when Dalton came into the picture.
John Dalton (1766-1844), is one of the most influential scientists in the development of the atomic theory.
Various atoms and molecules as depicted in John Da...
A scan of the first page of John Dalton's "A New S...
Niels Bohr's 1913 quantum model of the atom, which...Democritus first suggested the existence of the atom, but it took nearly two millennia before Dalton took the research into his own hands. Dalton's Atomic Theory consists of basic concepts based on the theory that atoms of different elements could be distinguished by differences in their weights. In this he concluded that, 1. All atoms are composed of elements. 2. The atoms of a given element are different from those of any other element. 3. Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller pieces, or destroyed in the chemical process. 4. Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to form chemical compounds. 5. When elements react, their atoms sometimes combine in more than one simple, whole-number ratio (Senese, & De Leon). Dalton's model was also that atoms were tiny, indivisible, indestructible particles. Also in his model, he states that each...