John Dalton

     John Dalton was born in Cumberland, England in 1766. His family were Quakers. He became a teacher at a Quaker boarding school in Kendal. In Manchester he joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. There, he was provided with laboratories and a stimulating intellectual environment. The first paper he ever wrote was in color blindness. 

     He started thinking of atomism by way of meteorology. He made notes everyday of his records until the day he died. The first book he ever wrote was Meteorological Observations. Dalton's papers claimed that the forces of repulsion thought to cause pressure acted only between atoms of the same kind and that the atoms in a mixture were indeed different in weight and “complexity." 

     Dalton calculated the weight from percentages compositions of compounds of atoms using the arbitrary system. He also came to believe that the particles in different gases had different volumes, explaining why a mixture of gases: as in the atmosphere are in constant motion. He wrote his theories in his New System of Chemical Philosophy.

     Dalton died in Manchester, England after a second stroke. 40,000 people attended his funeral, in his honor to the science community. 

Cites:

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/the-path-to-the-periodic-table/dalton.aspx

"John Dalton." Homepage of the Chemical Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

http://www.biography.com/people/john-dalton-9265201?page=3

"John Dalton Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

Picture:

http://www.biography.com/people/john-dalton-9265201

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/09/dayintech_0903