the development of atomic theory begain in 1865.
when did the development of atomic theory begin?
1865
in 1803, william had a leave of absence from the dublin society, which enabled him to sit on a london committee selecting a hydrometer to measure the strength of alcoholic drinks for revenue purposes. it was in london that william met humphry davy, a protégé of his uncle bryan. davy was one of william’s proposers to the royal society in 1806. william and humphry’s relationship flourished from 1810 on, when humphry promoted william’s claims to the discovery of the chemical atomic theory over those of their rival john dalton. william’s claims to the discovery of the chemical atomic theory is found in "comparative view". william sought to make clear the mechanisms of possible reactions between ultimate particles by using diagrams of the reacting particles and the affinity forces between them. evidence has recently been presented that dalton may have been aware of the "comparative view" when he developed his atomic theory.
william higgins (chemist)
sir benjamin collins brodie in 1866 published the first part of his calculus of chemical operations as a non-atomic alternative to the atomic theory. he described atomic theory as a 'thoroughly materialistic bit of joiners work'. alexander williamson used his presidential address to the london chemical society in 1869 to defend the atomic theory against its critics and doubters. this in turn led to further meetings at which the positivists again attacked the supposition that there were atoms. the matter was finally resolved in dalton's favour in the early 20th century with the rise of atomic physics.
atomism