![]() New evidence is first introduced addressing Bryan's disappearance from the scientific community after 1803. This essay focuses not on William Higgins, but on his uncle Bryan Higgins, a well-known chemist of his day, who had developed his own theories of caloric and chemical combination, similar in many respects to that of Dalton. ![]() John Dalton and the origin of the atomic theory: reassessing the influence of Bryan Higgins.ĭuring the years 1814-1819, William Higgins, an Irish chemist who worked at the Dublin Society, claimed he had anticipated John Dalton in developing the atomic theory and insinuated that Dalton was a plagiarist. The presentation will trace key steps in evaporation research inspired by Dalton's vision and motivated by historical and contemporary discoveries of this key process central to hydrology, climate, and life on Earth. A striking aspect of Dalton's pioneering work is the conviction in the generality of the laws of nature - in the conclusion of his 1799 water balance study he writes: "I think we may fairly conclude - that the rain and dew of this country are equivalent to the quantity of water carried off by evaporation and rivers", Dalton then adds "and as nature acts upon general laws, we ought to infer that it must be the case in every other country, till the contrary is proved". Dalton conducted some of earliest and definitive experiments and analyses to deduce regional water balance (1799) and subsequently expanded into "Essay on Evaporation" in 1802 maintaining keen interest in hydrometeorology throughout his adult life. It may seem peculiar that John Dalton known primarily for his pioneering contributions to chemistry with the development of gas laws and modern atomic theory is somehow associated with hydrology. On Dalton and evaporation research - a passage in the footsteps of scientific discovery ( John Dalton Medal Lecture) Such students may understand the importance of Dalton's atomic theory, model how Gay-Lussac's law relates the pressure and the temperature of a gas, and use… He makes no attempt to explain how it contributes to-or even changes-our understanding of Dalton, but leaves that privilege to Dalton scholars.īritish scientist John Dalton ( 1766-1844), French scientist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1778-1850), and Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856) are familiar to many chemistry students. The author acquired the letter about thirty years ago, and now offers it to the public. It relates to a startling breakthrough in Dalton's research, which pre-dates by five months the earliest date in his laboratory notebook, namely, 6 September 1803. This paper explores the provenance and content of a previously unknown personal letter by John Dalton ( 1766-1844), which is dated 12 April 1803. ![]() During this period, Dalton came under the influence of John Gough, who suggested that he maintain a .Ī letter signed: the very beginnings of Dalton's atomic theory. Of matter and the development of science in the world, especially in. ![]()
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