This particular resource used the following sources:. Skip to main content. Atoms, Molecules, and Ions. Search for:. John Dalton and Atomic Theory. While all atoms of an element were identical, different elements had atoms of differing size and mass. Dalton also postulated that chemical reactions resulted in the rearrangement of the reacting atoms. Dalton — was born into a modest Quaker family in Cumberland, England, and for most of his life—beginning in his village school at the age of 12—earned his living as a teacher and public lecturer.
After teaching for 10 years at a Quaker boarding school in Kendal, he moved on to a teaching position in the burgeoning city of Manchester. There he joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, which provided him with a stimulating intellectual environment and laboratory facilities.
The first paper he delivered before the society was on color blindness, which afflicted him and is sometimes still called Daltonism. Dalton arrived at his view of atomism by way of meteorology, in which he was seriously interested for a long period: he kept daily weather records from until his death, his first book was Meteorological Observations , and he read a series of papers on meteorological topics before the Literary and Philosophical Society between and A practitioner of Quaker modesty, he resisted public recognition; in he turned down elected membership to the Royal Society.
In he did, however, begrudgingly accept an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the prestigious Oxford University. Ironically, his graduation gown was red, a color he could not see. Fortunately for him, his color blindness was a convenient excuse for him to override the Quaker rule forbidding its subscribers to wear red. In the government granted him a pension, which was doubled in Dalton was offered another degree, this time a Doctorate of Laws, by Edinburgh University in As if those honors were insufficient tribute to the revolutionary chemist, in London, a statue was erected in Dalton's honor--also in In his later life, Dalton continued to teach and lecture at universities throughout the United Kingdom, although it is said that the scientist was an awkward lecturer with a gruff and jarring voice.
Throughout his lifetime, Dalton managed to maintain his nearly impeccable reputation as a devout Quaker. He lived a humble, uncomplicated life focusing on his fascination with science, and never married. After suffering a second stroke, Dalton died quietly on the evening of July 26, , at his home in Manchester, England. He was provided a civic funeral and granted full honors.
A reported 40, people attended the procession, honoring his contributions to science, manufacturing and the nation's commerce. By finding a way to "weigh atoms," John Dalton's research not only changed the face of chemistry but also initiated its progression into a modern science.
The splitting of the atom in the 20th century could most likely not have been accomplished without Dalton laying the foundation of knowledge about the atomic makeup of simple and complex molecules. Dalton's discoveries also allowed for the cost-efficient manufacturing of chemical compounds, since they essentially give manufacturers a recipe for determining the correct chemical proportions in a given compound. Now we can design molecules with a pretty good idea of their properties. In , on the bicentennial of Dalton's public announcement of his atomic theory, the Manchester Museum held a tribute to the man, his life and his groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
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