A Brief Account of the Perception of the Atom

The understanding of atoms did not process much beyond Democritus’ theory until the English chemist John Dalton (1766-1844) who looked into the theory of the atom and worked out some atomic weights and invented some atom and molecule symbols.

John Dalton made many important conclusions to the atom for example he did some tests and concluded that atoms are indestructible and can’t be broken into pieces. He also concluded that all atoms of the same element are identical to each other and that atoms are combined, separated or rearranged in chemical reactions. He also said compounds are formed of two or more different types of atoms. After John Dalton made his conclusions many scientists then advanced on his theories on atoms.

Ernest Rutherford (1871– 1937) was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics. He discovered the concept of radioactive half-life. In 1917 through the chemical reaction between nitrogen and alpha particles he discovered (and named) the proton.

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) who created the Bohr model of the atom. The Bohr model adapted Rutherford’s nuclear structure with Max Plank’s quantum theory and developed a perceptual shift in defining atomic structure that is still relevant today. The theory that electrons travel in discrete orbits around the atoms nucleus. He also created the shell model of the atom, where the chemical properties of an element are determined by the electrons in the outmost orbit of the nucleus.

Sir James Chadwick (1891–1974) who was an English Nobel laureate in physics awarded because he discovered the neutron.  He discovered the neutron in 1932. This eventually led to the possibility and the reality of the Nuclear Bomb.

Sir James once wrote, “ I realised that a nuclear bomb was not only possible, it was inevitable. I had to then take sleeping pills. It was the only remedy."

And this perception has changed the world  and will no doubt change even more as our scientific knowledge increases quicker due to computer processing powers. It has already affected the way we create energy as we now have over 400 nuclear power stations and it has also affected the way we communicate and fight each other as the threat of nuclear war is real.