Rogina T. answered • 08/28/23
Experienced K-6 Educator: Personalized Learning Excellence
**1766 - September 6:**
John Dalton was born in Eaglesfield, Cumberland, England. He was the son of a weaver and was raised in a Quaker family.
**1781:**
Dalton begins teaching at a Quaker school in Eaglesfield. His interest in mathematics and natural philosophy (science) began to grow.
**1793:**
Dalton moves to Manchester, England, where he becomes a teacher at New College. He started studying meteorology, which led to his interest in gases and the nature of the atmosphere.
**1803:**
Dalton published his first table of relative atomic weights, which is a significant contribution to the field of chemistry. He introduces the concept of atomic theory, proposing that matter is composed of indivisible atoms that combine in simple whole-number ratios to form compounds.
**1808:**
Dalton published his famous work "A New System of Chemical Philosophy," in which he further developed his atomic theory and proposed that atoms have different weights.
**1810s:**
Dalton studies color blindness (which he himself had) and publishes a paper on the subject. This work contributes to the understanding of how vision works and leads to the term "Daltonism" being used to describe color blindness.
**1826:**
Dalton presented his last paper on the absorption of gases by water and other liquids to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. This was one of his final contributions to the scientific community.
**1837:**
John Dalton died on July 27 in Manchester, England, at the age of 77. He is buried in Ardwick Cemetery.
John Dalton's atomic theory was revolutionary in its time and laid the foundation for modern chemistry. It proposed that atoms are unique, indivisible particles that combine in fixed ratios to form compounds, and this theory greatly advanced our understanding of the behavior of matter. Dalton's work continues to be celebrated in the field of chemistry, and his atomic theory remains a cornerstone of modern science.
