John Dalton was born into a Quaker (which is a Christian denomination) family in Eagles field, England September 6th, 1766. He wanted to study medicine, but did not due to family discouragement. In the spring of 1793, he moved to Manchester, where he was appointed as teacher of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the "New College", until 1800 when he resigned. After his resignation he became a private tutor. Dalton was never married and had very few friends throughout his life. In 1837, he suffered a minor stroke, then another one in 1838, and another in 1844. While attempting to recover from his third stroke in the hospital, he was found fallen from his bed, lifeless. Dalton died at the age of 77 in 1844.
Contributions
A common colour blindness test. Correst results noted.
John contributed to the world in many ways as an English meteorologist, physicist, and chemist. The discoveries he is most well-known for are those he made in the causes of colour blindness and physical matter. Dalton was colour blind himself, and sought to find any possible causes for it in the year of 1794. During this time, he published a paper discussing the matter called "Extraordinary Facts Relating to the Vision of Colours". It proposed that the cause of colour blindness was a discolouration of liquid in the eye, or the vitreous humour. Today, colour blindness is often referred to Daltonism, all in his honour.
Dalton's most noted achievement, alongside his advancements in the knowledge of human vision is the Atomic Theory. In this theory, Dalton states a set of principles that apply to all known elements and their compositions. The five main points he outlined are as follows...
"Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms."
Molecules and atoms demonstrated in Dalton's theory.
"All atoms of a given element are identical."
"The atoms of a given element are different than those of any other element; the atoms of different elements can be distinguished from one another by their respective relative weights."
"Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to form chemical compounds; a given compound always has the same relative numbers of types of atoms."
"Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller particles, nor destroyed in the chemical process; a chemical reaction simply changes the way atoms are grouped together."
Although it is still unknown as to how he concluded these points, they still survive today in modern science. His hard work and dedication made it possible for many scientists following his time to expand their knowledge on matter and it's properties.
Interesting Facts
Dalton was made President of Manchester's Literature and Philosophy Society. As a member, he contributed 116 memoirs over 27 years.
Many people considered Dalton's experiments to be inaccurate as he liked to use simple measurements. However, when several historians attempted to recreate his experiments, they found them to be precise and very much accurate.
Dalton's will asked for an autopsy of his own eyes after he had died. He believed his red colour blindness was caused by a bluish liquid in his eyes. However, the autopsy proved his theory to be false.
Dalton kept a diary of the meteorological observations he had made in the area where he lived. Over 200,000 entries were recorded there, including one describing symptoms of a stroke that would soon cause his death.
By: Pascal Begin- Nosé, Jade Lenning, and Jake Pountney.
JOHN DALTON1766 - 1844
Personal Life
John Dalton was born into a Quaker (which is a Christian denomination) family in Eagles field, England September 6th, 1766. He wanted to study medicine, but did not due to family discouragement. In the spring of 1793, he moved to Manchester, where he was appointed as teacher of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the "New College", until 1800 when he resigned. After his resignation he became a private tutor. Dalton was never married and had very few friends throughout his life. In 1837, he suffered a minor stroke, then another one in 1838, and another in 1844. While attempting to recover from his third stroke in the hospital, he was found fallen from his bed, lifeless. Dalton died at the age of 77 in 1844.
Contributions
Dalton's most noted achievement, alongside his advancements in the knowledge of human vision is the Atomic Theory. In this theory, Dalton states a set of principles that apply to all known elements and their compositions. The five main points he outlined are as follows...
"Elements are made of tiny particles called atoms."
Molecules and atoms demonstrated in Dalton's theory.
"All atoms of a given element are identical."
"The atoms of a given element are different than those of any other element; the atoms of different elements can be distinguished from one another by their respective relative weights."
"Atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to form chemical compounds; a given compound always has the same relative numbers of types of atoms."
"Atoms cannot be created, divided into smaller particles, nor destroyed in the chemical process; a chemical reaction simply changes the way atoms are grouped together."
Although it is still unknown as to how he concluded these points, they still survive today in modern science. His hard work and dedication made it possible for many scientists following his time to expand their knowledge on matter and it's properties.
Interesting Facts
By: Pascal Begin- Nosé, Jade Lenning, and Jake Pountney.
Bibliography
1 - Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. "John Dalton". 22 September 2008. No Author Noted. 3 October 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalton>.
2 - Colblinder: Color Blindness Viewed Through Colorblind Eyes. "Daltonism - Named after John Dalton". 6 April 2006. Daniel Flück. 3 October 2008 <http://www.colblindor.com/2006/04/09/daltonism-named-after-john-dalton/>.
3 - Vision Learning. "Happy Birthday Mr. Dalton!". 2004. No Author Noted. 3 October 2008. <http://web.visionlearning.com/events/Dalton_Sep6_2004.htm>.
4 - The History of the Atom. "John Dalton's Model". 3 October 2008. <http://northspringer.tripod.com/HistoryofAtom/id1.html>.