John Dalton and the atomic theory : the biography of a natural philosopher / Elizabeth C. Patterson
- Bib ID:
- 10017724
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Patterson, Elizabeth C. (Elizabeth Chambers)
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Description:
-
- Garden City, New York : Doubleday, 1970
- ©1970
- x, 348 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, genealogical table, facsimiles, portraits ; 22 cm.
- Series:
-
- Science study series.
- Collection of Jamie and Michael Kassler.
- Summary:
-
"John Dalton was a very singular man. A Quaker by profession and practice, he had none of the manners or ways of the world. A tolerable mathematician, he gained his livelihood, I believe, by teaching mathematics to young people ... ; he followed with ardour analogies and inductions. ... I have no doubt that he was one of the most original philosophers of his times, and one of the most ingenious.' Thus did the great scientist, Sir Humphrey Davy, describe the man often called 'the father of the atomic theory.' The details of that theory have long since been refined, but the revolution that Dalton effected in physical science is as significant as that instigated by Darwin's ideas on evolution. Dalton lived and taught in Manchester from 1793 to his death in 1844, and his life paralleled that of the emerging Industrial Revolution. The author places the methodical existence of this provincial genius against the hectic and innovative scene that was nineteenth-century England. She describes how this self-educated schoolmaster conducted imaginative investigations in meteorology, chemistry, and natural history, and evolved a notion of matter that has given our own age a character both terrifying and exciting."--Dust jacket.
- Full contents:
-
- I. Introduction
- II. Dalton's Ancestry
- III. Early Years
- IV. The Emerging Philosopher
- V. Dalton the Physicist
- VI. The Atomic Theory
- VII. A Reputation Made
- VIII. The Last Decades.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [325]-335) and index.
- Subject:
- Genre/Form:
- Biographies
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1970
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