The discovery of chemical atomism by John Dalton. Great scientists

Thus laying the foundation for the atomic theory of the structure of matter.

Youth

John Dalton was born into a Quaker family in Eaglesfield, Cumberland County. The son of a tailor, it was only at the age of 15 that he began studying with his older brother Jonathan at a Quaker school in the nearby town of Kendal. By 1790, Dalton had more or less decided on his future specialty, choosing between law and medicine, but his plans were met without enthusiasm - his dissenter parents were categorically against studying at English universities. Dalton had to remain in Kendal until the spring of 1793, after which he moved to Manchester, where he met John Gough, a blind polymath philosopher who imparted to him much of his scientific knowledge in an informal setting. This enabled Dalton to obtain a position teaching mathematics and science at New College, a dissenting academy in Manchester. He remained in this position until 1800, when the deteriorating financial situation of the college forced him to resign; He began teaching privately in mathematics and science.

In his younger years, Dalton was closely associated with the famous Eaglesfield Protestant Elihu Robinson, a professional meteorologist and engineer. Robinson instilled in Dalton an interest in various problems of mathematics and meteorology. During his life in Kendal, Dalton collected solutions to the problems he considered in the book "Diaries of Ladies and Gentlemen", and in 1787 he began to keep his own meteorological diary, in which over 57 years he recorded more than 200,000 observations. During the same period, Dalton re-developed the theory of atmospheric circulation , previously proposed by George Hadley. The scientist’s first publication was called “Meteorological Observations and Experiments”, it contained the germs of ideas for many of his future discoveries. However, despite the originality of his approach, the scientific community did not pay much attention to Dalton’s works. Dalton dedicated his second major work to language; it was published under the title “Peculiarities of English Grammar” (1801).

Color blindness

For half of his life, Dalton had no idea that there was anything wrong with his vision. He studied optics and chemistry, but discovered his defect thanks to his passion for botany. The fact that he could not distinguish a blue flower from a pink one, he attributed to confusion in the classification of flowers, and not to the shortcomings of his own eyesight. He noticed that the flower, which during the day, in the light of the sun, was sky blue (or rather, the color that he considered sky blue), looked dark red in the light of a candle. He turned to those around him, but no one saw such a strange transformation, with the exception of his brother. Thus, Dalton realized that something was wrong with his vision and that this problem was inherited. In 1794, immediately after arriving in Manchester, Dalton was elected a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (Lit & Phil) and a few weeks later published an article entitled “Unusual Cases of Color Perception,” where he explained the narrowness of color perception of some people by discoloration of the liquid substance of the eye. Having described this disease using his own example, Dalton drew the attention of people to it who, until that moment, had not realized they had it. Although Dalton's explanation was questioned during his lifetime, the thoroughness of his research into his own disease was so unprecedented that the term "color blindness" was firmly attached to this disease. In 1995, studies were carried out on John Dalton's preserved eye, which revealed that he suffered from a rare form of color blindness - deuteranopia. In this case, the eye does not detect light of medium wavelengths (in a more common version of the disease - deuteranomaly, the eye simply distorts the image due to the incorrect color of the pigment of the corresponding part of the retina). In addition to violet and blue, he could normally recognize only one color - yellow, and wrote about it this way:

This work by Dalton was followed by a dozen new ones, devoted to a variety of topics: the color of the sky, the causes of fresh water sources, the reflection and refraction of light, as well as participles in the English language.

Development of the atomistic concept

In 1800, Dalton became secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, after which he presented a number of reports under the general title “Experiments”, devoted to determining the composition of gas mixtures, the vapor pressure of various substances at different temperatures in vacuum and in air, the evaporation of liquids, and the thermal expansion of gases . Four such articles were published in the Society's Reports in 1802. Particularly noteworthy is the introduction to Dalton's second work:

After describing experiments to establish the vapor pressure of water at various temperatures ranging from 0 to 100 °C, Dalton proceeds to discuss the vapor pressure of six other liquids and concludes that the change in vapor pressure is equivalent for all substances for the same change in temperature.

In his fourth work, Dalton writes:

Gas laws

Dalton thus confirmed Gay-Lussac's law, published in 1802. Within two or three years of reading his articles, Dalton published a number of works on similar topics, such as the absorption of gases by water and other liquids (1803); At the same time, he postulated the law of partial pressures, known as Dalton's law.

The most important of all Dalton's works are considered to be those related to the atomistic concept in chemistry, with which his name is most directly associated. It is suggested (by Thomas Thomson) that this theory was developed either from studies of the behavior of ethylene and methane under various conditions, or from the analysis of nitrogen dioxide and monoxide.

A study of Dalton's laboratory notes, discovered in the Lit&Phil archives, suggests that as he searched for an explanation for the law of multiple ratios, the scientist came closer and closer to considering chemical interaction as an elementary act of combining atoms of certain masses. The idea of ​​atoms gradually grew and became stronger in his head, supported by experimental facts obtained from the study of the atmosphere. The first words that saw the light of the beginning of this idea can be found at the very end of his article on the absorption of gases (written October 21, 1803, published in 1805). Dalton writes:

Determination of atomic weights

To visualize his theory, Dalton used his own system of symbols, also presented in the New Course in Chemical Philosophy. Continuing his research, Dalton after some time published a table of the relative atomic weights of six elements - hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, taking the mass of hydrogen equal to 1. Note that Dalton did not describe the method by which he determined the relative weights, but in in his notes dated September 6, 1803, we find a table for calculating these parameters based on data from various chemists on the analysis of water, ammonia, carbon dioxide and other substances.

Faced with the problem of calculating the relative diameter of atoms (of which, as the scientist believed, all gases were composed), Dalton used the results of chemical experiments. Assuming that any chemical transformation always occurs along the simplest path, Dalton comes to the conclusion that a chemical reaction is possible only between particles of different weights. From this moment on, Dalton's concept ceases to be a simple reflection of the ideas of Democritus. The extension of this theory to substances led the researcher to the law of multiple ratios, and the experiment perfectly confirmed his conclusion. It is worth noting that the law of multiple ratios was predicted by Dalton in a report on the description of the content of various gases in the atmosphere, read in November 1802: “Oxygen can combine with a certain amount of nitrogen, or with twice the same, but there cannot be any intermediate values ​​of the amount of substance". It is believed that this sentence was added some time after the report was read, but it was not published until 1805.

In his work “New Course in Chemical Philosophy,” all substances were divided by Dalton into double, triple, quadruple, etc. (depending on the number of atoms in the molecule). In fact, he proposed to classify the structures of compounds according to the total number of atoms - one atom of element X, combining with one atom of element Y, gives a double compound. If one atom of element X combines with two Y (or vice versa), then such a connection will be triple.

Basic principles of Dalton's theory

1. Chemical elements consist of small particles called atoms (the principle of discreteness (discontinuity of structure) of matter)
2. Atoms cannot be created anew, divided into smaller particles, destroyed through any chemical transformations (or turned into each other). Any chemical reaction simply changes the order in which atoms are grouped (atoms do not appear or disappear during chemical reactions - law of conservation of mass; see Atomism)
3. The atoms of any [one] element are identical and different from all others, and the characteristic feature in this case is their [same] relative atomic mass
4. Atoms of different elements have different weights (mass)
5. Atoms of different elements can combine in chemical reactions to form chemical compounds, and each compound always has the same [ prime, integer] ratio of atoms in its composition
6. The relative weights (mass) of interacting elements are directly related to the weights (mass) of the atoms themselves, as shown by law of constancy of composition

Dalton also suggested " rule of greatest simplicity”, which, however, subsequently did not receive independent confirmation: when atoms are combined in only one ratio, this indicates the formation of a double compound (complex two-(poly-)atomic molecular compounds).

Mature years

Dalton showed his theory to T. Thomson, who briefly outlined it in the third edition of his “Course of Chemistry” (1807), and then the scientist himself continued its presentation in the first part of the first volume of “The New Course in Chemical Philosophy” (1808). The second part was published in 1810, but the first part of the second volume was not published until 1827 - the development of chemical theory went much further, the remaining unpublished material was of interest to a very narrow audience, even for the scientific community. The second part of the second volume was never published.

In 1817, Dalton became president of Lit & Phil, which he remained until his death, making 116 reports, of which the earliest are the most notable. In one of them, made in 1814, he explains the principles of volumetric analysis, in which he was one of the pioneers. In 1840, his work on phosphates and arsenates (often considered one of the weakest) was considered unworthy of publication by the Royal Society, forcing Dalton to do it himself. The same fate befell four more of his articles, two of which (“On the amount of acids, alkalis and salts in various salts”, “On a new and simple method of analyzing sugar”) contained a discovery that Dalton himself considered second in importance after the atomistic concept. Certain anhydrous salts, when dissolved, do not cause an increase in the volume of the solution; accordingly, as the scientist wrote, they occupy certain “pores” in the structure of water.

In memory of Dalton's work, some chemists and biochemists informally use the term "dalton" (or Da for short) to designate a unit of atomic mass of an element (equivalent to 1/12 the mass of 12 C). Also named after the scientist is the street connecting Deansgate and Albert Square in the center of Manchester.

One of the buildings on the campus of the University of Manchester is named after John Dalton. It houses the Faculty of Technology and hosts most of the lectures on natural science subjects. At the exit from the building there is a statue of Dalton, moved here from London (the work of William Teed, 1855, until 1966 it stood on Piccadilly Square).

The University of Manchester student residence building also bears Dalton's name. The university has established various grants named after Dalton: two in chemistry, two in mathematics, and the Dalton Prize in natural history. There is also the Dalton Medal, awarded periodically by the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (a total of 12 medals were issued).

There is a crater on the Moon named after him.

Much of John Dalton's work was destroyed in the bombing of Manchester on December 24, 1940. Isaac Asimov wrote about this: “In war, not only the living die.”

see also

• Atomic mass unit (dalton)
• Dalton minimum - a period of low solar activity

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Notes

1. I. Ya. Mittova, A. M. Samoilov. History of chemistry from ancient times to the end of the 20th century: Textbook. In 2 volumes - Dolgoprudny: “Intelligence”, 2009. - Vol. 1. - P. 343. - ISBN 978-5-91559-077-8.
3. (English) (Retrieved September 7, 2011)
4. Smith R. Angus.. - London: H. Bailliere, 1856. - P. 279.
5. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 2009-04-30.
6. Walter Gratzer. Eurekas and Euphories: About Scientists and Their Discoveries = Eurecas and Euphories: The Oxford Book of Scientific Anecdotes / Ed. Irina Opimakh. - M.: KoLibri, 2010. - pp. 133-136. - 656 s. - (Galileo). - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-389-00746-8.
7. (English) . Retrieved September 20, 2013. In this English article on color vision disorders, John Dalton is mentioned in the section on deuteranopia
8. Roscoe Henry E.
9. Laboratory notebook in ibid., p. 248
10. Roscoe Henry E.. - London: Macmillan, 1896. - P. 50-51.
11. Patterson Elizabeth C. John Dalton and the Atomic Theory. - Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
12. Elliott, T. Lenton (1953). "". Journal of Chemical Education 30 : 569. DOI:10.1021/ed030p569. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
13. Millington John Price.. - London: J. M. Dent & Company, 1906. - P. 201-208.

Literature

• Khramov Yu. A. Dalton John // Physicists: Biographical Reference / Ed. A. I. Akhiezer. - Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional - M.: Nauka, 1983. - P. 97. - 400 p. - 200,000 copies.(in translation)
• Greenaway Frank. John Dalton and the Atom. - Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966.
• Henry William C.. - London: Cavendish Society, 1854.
• (1995) "". Science 267 (5200): 984-988. DOI:10.1126/science.7863342. PMID 7863342. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
• Lonsdale Henry.. - George Routledge and Sons: George, 1874.
• Millington John Price.. - London: J. M. Dent & Company, 1906.
• Patterson Elizabeth C. John Dalton and the Atomic Theory. - Garden City, New York: Anchor, 1970.
• Rocke, A. J. (2005). "". Social Research 72 : 125-158. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
• Roscoe Henry E.. - London: Macmillan, 1895.
• Roscoe Henry E.. - London: Macmillan, 1896.
• Smith R. Angus.. - London: H. Bailliere, 1856.
• Smyth A.L. John Dalton, 1766-1844: A Bibliography of Works by and About Him, With an Annotated List of His Surviving Apparatus and Personal Effects. - 1998.
• Thackray Arnold. John Dalton: Critical Assessments of His Life and Science. - Harvard University Press, 1972. - ISBN 0-674-47525-9.

Links

• Dalton John.. - 2. - Manchester: Harrison and Crosfield, 1834.
• Dalton John.. - Edinburgh: William F. Clay, 1893.- Alembic Club reprint with some of Dalton’s papers, along with some by William Hyde Wollaston and Thomas Thomson
• Dalton John. . - 1808.

Excerpt characterizing Dalton, John

“No, I didn’t sleep,” said Princess Marya, shaking her head negatively. Unwittingly obeying her father, she now, just as he spoke, tried to speak more with signs and seemed to also be moving her tongue with difficulty.
- Darling... - or - friend... - Princess Marya could not make out; but, probably, from the expression of his gaze, a gentle, caressing word was said, which he never said. - Why didn’t you come?
“And I wished, wished for his death! - thought Princess Marya. He paused.
“Thank you... daughter, friend... for everything, for everything... forgive... thank you... forgive... thank you!..” And tears flowed from his eyes. “Call Andryusha,” he suddenly said, and something childishly timid and distrustful was expressed in his face at this demand. It was as if he himself knew that his demand made no sense. So, at least, it seemed to Princess Marya.
“I received a letter from him,” answered Princess Marya.
He looked at her with surprise and timidity.
- Where is he?
- He is in the army, mon pere, in Smolensk.
He was silent for a long time, closing his eyes; then in the affirmative, as if in response to his doubts and to confirm that he now understood and remembered everything, he nodded his head and opened his eyes.
“Yes,” he said clearly and quietly. - Russia is dead! Ruined! - And he began to sob again, and tears flowed from his eyes. Princess Marya could no longer hold on and cried too, looking at his face.
He closed his eyes again. His sobs stopped. He made a sign with his hand to his eyes; and Tikhon, understanding him, wiped away his tears.
Then he opened his eyes and said something that no one could understand for a long time, and finally only Tikhon understood and conveyed it. Princess Marya looked for the meaning of his words in the mood in which he spoke a minute before. She thought that he was talking about Russia, then about Prince Andrei, then about her, about his grandson, then about his death. And because of this she could not guess his words.
“Put on your white dress, I love it,” he said.
Realizing these words, Princess Marya began to sob even louder, and the doctor, taking her by the arm, led her out of the room onto the terrace, persuading her to calm down and make preparations for departure. After Princess Marya left the prince, he again started talking about his son, about the war, about the sovereign, twitched his eyebrows angrily, began to raise a hoarse voice, and the second and final blow came to him.
Princess Marya stopped on the terrace. The day had cleared up, it was sunny and hot. She could not understand anything, think about anything and feel anything except her passionate love for her father, a love that, it seemed to her, she did not know until that moment. She ran out into the garden and, sobbing, ran down to the pond along the young linden paths planted by Prince Andrei.
- Yes... I... I... I. I wanted him dead. Yes, I wanted it to end soon... I wanted to calm down... But what will happen to me? “What do I need peace of mind when he’s gone,” Princess Marya muttered aloud, walking quickly through the garden and pressing her hands on her chest, from which sobs were convulsively escaping. Walking around the garden in a circle that led her back to the house, she saw M lle Bourienne (who remained in Bogucharovo and did not want to leave) and an unfamiliar man coming towards her. This was the leader of the district, who himself came to the princess in order to present to her the necessity of an early departure. Princess Marya listened and did not understand him; she led him into the house, invited him to have breakfast and sat down with him. Then, apologizing to the leader, she went to the door of the old prince. The doctor with an alarmed face came out to her and said that it was impossible.
- Go, princess, go, go!
Princess Marya went back into the garden and sat down on the grass under the mountain near the pond, in a place where no one could see. She didn't know how long she was there. Someone's running female steps along the path made her wake up. She stood up and saw that Dunyasha, her maid, who was obviously running after her, suddenly, as if frightened by the sight of her young lady, stopped.
“Please, Princess... Prince...” Dunyasha said in a broken voice.
“Now, I’m coming, I’m coming,” the princess spoke hastily, not giving Dunyasha time to finish what she had to say, and, trying not to see Dunyasha, she ran to the house.
“Princess, God’s will is being done, you must be ready for anything,” said the leader, meeting her at the front door.
- Leave me. It is not true! – she angrily shouted at him. The doctor wanted to stop her. She pushed him away and ran to the door. “Why are these people with frightened faces stopping me? I don't need anyone! And what are they doing here? “She opened the door, and the bright daylight in this previously dim room terrified her. There were women and a nanny in the room. They all moved away from the bed to give her way. He was still lying on the bed; but the stern look of his calm face stopped Princess Marya at the threshold of the room.
“No, he’s not dead, that can’t be! - Princess Marya said to herself, walked up to him and, overcoming the horror that gripped her, pressed her lips to his cheek. But she immediately pulled away from him. Instantly, all the strength of tenderness for him that she felt in herself disappeared and was replaced by a feeling of horror at what was in front of her. “No, he is no more! He is not there, but there is right there, in the same place where he was, something alien and hostile, some terrible, terrifying and repulsive secret... - And, covering her face with her hands, Princess Marya fell into the arms of the doctor who supported her.
In the presence of Tikhon and the doctor, the women washed what he was, tied a scarf around his head so that his open mouth would not stiffen, and tied his diverging legs with another scarf. Then they dressed him in a uniform with orders and placed the small, shriveled body on the table. God knows who took care of it and when, but everything happened as if by itself. By nightfall, candles were burning around the coffin, there was a shroud on the coffin, juniper was strewn on the floor, a printed prayer was placed under the dead, shriveled head, and a sexton sat in the corner, reading the psalter.
Just as horses shy away, crowd and snort over a dead horse, so in the living room around the coffin a crowd of foreign and native people crowded - the leader, and the headman, and the women, and all with fixed, frightened eyes, crossed themselves and bowed, and kissed the cold and numb hand of the old prince.

Bogucharovo was always, before Prince Andrei settled there, an estate behind the eyes, and the Bogucharovo men had a completely different character from the Lysogorsk men. They differed from them in their speech, clothing, and morals. They were called steppe. The old prince praised them for their tolerance at work when they came to help with cleaning in the Bald Mountains or digging ponds and ditches, but did not like them for their savagery.
Prince Andrei's last stay in Bogucharovo, with its innovations - hospitals, schools and ease of rent - did not soften their morals, but, on the contrary, strengthened in them those character traits that the old prince called savagery. There were always some vague rumors going around between them, either about the enumeration of all of them as Cossacks, then about the new faith to which they would be converted, then about some royal sheets, then about the oath to Pavel Petrovich in 1797 (about which they said that back then the will came out, but the gentlemen took it away), then about Peter Feodorovich, who will reign in seven years, under whom everything will be free and it will be so simple that nothing will happen. Rumors about the war in Bonaparte and his invasion were combined for them with the same unclear ideas about the Antichrist, the end of the world and pure will.
In the vicinity of Bogucharovo there were more and more large villages, state-owned and quitrent landowners. There were very few landowners living in this area; There were also very few servants and literate people, and in the life of the peasants of this area, those mysterious currents of Russian folk life, the causes and significance of which are inexplicable to contemporaries, were more noticeable and stronger than in others. One of these phenomena was the movement that appeared about twenty years ago between the peasants of this area to move to some warm rivers. Hundreds of peasants, including those from Bogucharov, suddenly began to sell their livestock and leave with their families somewhere to the southeast. Like birds flying somewhere across the seas, these people with their wives and children strove to the southeast, where none of them had been. They went up in caravans, bathed one by one, ran, and rode, and went there, to the warm rivers. Many were punished, exiled to Siberia, many died of cold and hunger along the way, many returned on their own, and the movement died down by itself just as it had begun without an obvious reason. But the underwater currents did not stop flowing in this people and were gathering for some new force, which was about to manifest itself just as strangely, unexpectedly and at the same time simply, naturally and strongly. Now, in 1812, for a person who lived close to the people, it was noticeable that these underwater jets were doing strong work and were close to manifestation.
Alpatych, having arrived in Bogucharovo some time before the death of the old prince, noticed that there was unrest among the people and that, contrary to what was happening in the Bald Mountains strip on a sixty-verst radius, where all the peasants left (letting the Cossacks ruin their villages), in the steppe strip , in Bogucharovskaya, the peasants, as was heard, had relations with the French, received some papers that passed between them, and remained in place. He knew through the servants loyal to him that the other day the peasant Karp, who had a great influence on the world, was traveling with a government cart, returned with the news that the Cossacks were destroying the villages from which the inhabitants were leaving, but that the French were not touching them. He knew that yesterday another man had even brought from the village of Visloukhova - where the French were stationed - a paper from the French general, in which the residents were told that no harm would be done to them and that they would pay for everything that was taken from them if they stayed. To prove this, the man brought from Visloukhov one hundred rubles in banknotes (he did not know that they were counterfeit), given to him in advance for the hay.
Finally, and most importantly, Alpatych knew that on the very day he ordered the headman to collect carts to take the princess’s train from Bogucharovo, there was a meeting in the village in the morning, at which it was supposed not to be taken out and to wait. Meanwhile, time was running out. The leader, on the day of the prince’s death, August 15, insisted to Princess Mary that she leave on the same day, as it was becoming dangerous. He said that after the 16th he is not responsible for anything. On the day of the prince’s death, he left in the evening, but promised to come to the funeral the next day. But the next day he could not come, since, according to the news he himself received, the French had unexpectedly moved, and he only managed to take his family and everything valuable from his estate.
For about thirty years Bogucharov was ruled by the elder Dron, whom the old prince called Dronushka.
Dron was one of those physically and morally strong men who, as soon as they get old, grow a beard, and so, without changing, live up to sixty or seventy years, without a single gray hair or missing tooth, just as straight and strong at sixty years old , just like at thirty.
Dron, soon after moving to the warm rivers, in which he participated, like others, was made head mayor in Bogucharovo and since then he has served in this position impeccably for twenty-three years. The men were more afraid of him than the master. The gentlemen, the old prince, the young prince, and the manager, respected him and jokingly called him minister. Throughout his service, Dron was never drunk or sick; never, neither after sleepless nights, nor after any kind of work, did he show the slightest fatigue and, not knowing how to read and write, never forgot a single account of money and pounds of flour for the huge carts that he sold, and not a single shock of snakes for bread on every tithe of Bogucharovo fields.
This Drona Alpatych, who came from the devastated Bald Mountains, called to him on the day of the prince’s funeral and ordered him to prepare twelve horses for the princess’s carriages and eighteen carts for the convoy, which was to be raised from Bogucharovo. Although the men were given quitrents, the execution of this order could not encounter difficulties, according to Alpatych, since in Bogucharovo there were two hundred and thirty taxes and the men were wealthy. But Headman Dron, having listened to the order, silently lowered his eyes. Alpatych named him the men whom he knew and from whom he ordered the carts to be taken.
Dron replied that these men had horses as carriers. Alpatych named other men, and those horses did not have, according to Dron, some were under government carts, others were powerless, and others had horses that died from lack of food. Horses, according to Dron, could not be collected not only for the convoy, but also for the carriages.
Alpatych looked carefully at Dron and frowned. Just as Dron was an exemplary peasant headman, it was not for nothing that Alpatych managed the prince’s estates for twenty years and was an exemplary manager. He was eminently able to understand instinctively the needs and instincts of the people with whom he dealt, and therefore he was an excellent manager. Looking at Dron, he immediately realized that Dron’s answers were not an expression of Dron’s thoughts, but an expression of the general mood of the Bogucharov world, which the headman was already captured by. But at the same time, he knew that Dron, who had profited and was hated by the world, had to oscillate between two camps - the master's and the peasant's. He noticed this hesitation in his gaze, and therefore Alpatych, frowning, moved closer to Dron.
- You, Dronushka, listen! - he said. - Don't tell me nothing. His Excellency Prince Andrei Nikolaich themselves ordered me to send all the people and not stay with the enemy, and there is a royal order for this. And whoever remains is a traitor to the king. Do you hear?
“I’m listening,” Dron answered without raising his eyes.
Alpatych was not satisfied with this answer.
- Hey, Drone, this will be bad! - Alpatych said, shaking his head.
- The power is yours! - Dron said sadly.
- Hey, Drone, leave it! - Alpatych repeated, taking his hand out of his bosom and with a solemn gesture pointing it to the floor at Dron’s feet. “It’s not that I can see right through you, I can see right through everything three arshins below you,” he said, peering at the floor at Dron’s feet.
The drone became embarrassed, glanced briefly at Alpatych and lowered his eyes again.
“You leave the nonsense and tell the people to get ready to leave their houses for Moscow and prepare carts tomorrow morning for the princesses’ train, but don’t go to the meeting yourself.” Do you hear?
The drone suddenly fell at his feet.
- Yakov Alpatych, fire me! Take the keys from me, dismiss me for Christ's sake.
- Leave it! - Alpatych said sternly. “I can see three arshins right under you,” he repeated, knowing that his skill in following bees, his knowledge of when to sow oats, and the fact that for twenty years he knew how to please the old prince had long ago gained him the reputation of a sorcerer and that his ability to see three arshins under a person is attributed to sorcerers.
The drone stood up and wanted to say something, but Alpatych interrupted him:
- What did you think of this? Eh?.. What do you think? A?
– What should I do with the people? - said Dron. - It completely exploded. That's what I tell them...
“That’s what I’m saying,” said Alpatych. - Do they drink? – he asked briefly.
– Yakov Alpatych got all worked up: another barrel was brought.
- So listen. I’ll go to the police officer, and you tell the people, so that they give up this, and so that there are carts.
“I’m listening,” answered Dron.
Yakov Alpatych did not insist any more. He had ruled the people for a long time and knew that the main way to get people to obey was to not show them any doubt that they might disobey. Having obtained from Dron the obedient “I listen with,” Yakov Alpatych was satisfied with this, although he not only doubted, but was almost sure that the carts would not be delivered without the help of a military team.
And indeed, by evening the carts were not assembled. In the village at the tavern there was again a meeting, and at the meeting it was necessary to drive the horses into the forest and not give out the carts. Without saying anything about this to the princess, Alpatych ordered his own luggage to be packed from those who had come from Bald Mountains and to prepare these horses for the princess’s carriages, and he himself went to the authorities.

X
After her father's funeral, Princess Marya locked herself in her room and did not let anyone in. A girl came to the door to say that Alpatych had come to ask for orders to leave. (This was even before Alpatych’s conversation with Dron.) Princess Marya rose from the sofa on which she was lying and said through the closed door that she would never go anywhere and asked to be left alone.
The windows of the room in which Princess Marya lay were facing west. She lay on the sofa facing the wall and, fingering the buttons on the leather pillow, saw only this pillow, and her vague thoughts were focused on one thing: she was thinking about the irreversibility of death and about that spiritual abomination of hers, which she had not known until now and which showed up during her father’s illness. She wanted, but did not dare to pray, did not dare, in the state of mind in which she was, to turn to God. She lay in this position for a long time.
The sun set on the other side of the house and slanting evening rays through the open windows illuminated the room and part of the morocco pillow that Princess Marya was looking at. Her train of thought suddenly stopped. She unconsciously stood up, straightened her hair, stood up and went to the window, involuntarily inhaling the coolness of a clear but windy evening.
“Yes, now it’s convenient for you to admire in the evening! He’s already gone, and no one will bother you,” she said to herself, and, sinking into a chair, she fell head first on the windowsill.
Someone called her in a gentle and quiet voice from the side of the garden and kissed her on the head. She looked back. It was M lle Bourienne, in a black dress and pleres. She quietly approached Princess Marya, kissed her with a sigh and immediately began to cry. Princess Marya looked back at her. All previous clashes with her, jealousy towards her, were remembered by Princess Marya; I also remembered how he had recently changed towards m lle Bourienne, could not see her, and, therefore, how unfair were the reproaches that Princess Marya made to her in her soul. “And should I, who wanted his death, condemn anyone? - she thought.
Princess Marya vividly imagined the position of m lle Bourienne, who had recently been distant from her society, but at the same time dependent on her and living in someone else’s house. And she felt sorry for her. She looked at her meekly questioningly and extended her hand. M lle Bourienne immediately began to cry, began to kiss her hand and talk about the grief that befell the princess, making herself a participant in this grief. She said that the only consolation in her grief was that the princess allowed her to share it with her. She said that all former misunderstandings should be destroyed before great grief, that she felt pure in front of everyone and that from there he could see her love and gratitude. The princess listened to her, not understanding her words, but occasionally looking at her and listening to the sounds of her voice.
“Your situation is doubly terrible, dear princess,” said M lle Bourienne, after a pause. – I understand that you could not and cannot think about yourself; but I am obliged to do this with my love for you... Was Alpatych with you? Did he talk to you about leaving? – she asked.
Princess Marya did not answer. She did not understand where and who was supposed to go. “Was it possible to do anything now, to think about anything? Doesn't it matter? She didn't answer.
“Do you know, chere Marie,” said m lle Bourienne, “do you know that we are in danger, that we are surrounded by the French; It's dangerous to travel now. If we go, we will almost certainly be captured, and God knows...
Princess Marya looked at her friend, not understanding what she was saying.
“Oh, if only someone knew how much I don’t care now,” she said. - Of course, I would never want to leave him... Alpatych told me something about leaving... Talk to him, I can’t do anything, I don’t want anything...
– I talked to him. He hopes that we will have time to leave tomorrow; but I think that now it would be better to stay here,” said m lle Bourienne. - Because, you see, chere Marie, falling into the hands of soldiers or rioting men on the road would be terrible. - M lle Bourienne took out from her reticule an announcement on a non-Russian extraordinary paper from the French General Rameau that residents should not leave their homes, that they would be given due protection by the French authorities, and handed it to the princess.
“I think it’s better to contact this general,” said m lle Bourienne, “and I’m sure that you will be given due respect.”
Princess Marya read the paper, and dry sobs shook her face.
-Who did you get this through? - she said.
“They probably found out that I’m French by name,” said m lle Bourienne, blushing.
Princess Marya, with a paper in her hand, stood up from the window and, with a pale face, left the room and went to the former office of Prince Andrei.
“Dunyasha, call Alpatych, Dronushka, someone to me,” said Princess Marya, “and tell Amalya Karlovna not to come to me,” she added, hearing the voice of m lle Bourienne. - Hurry up and go! Go quickly! - said Princess Marya, horrified by the thought that she could remain in the power of the French.
“So that Prince Andrei knows that she is in the power of the French! So that she, the daughter of Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky, asks Mr. General Rameau to provide her with protection and enjoy his benefits! “This thought terrified her, made her shudder, blush and feel attacks of anger and pride that she had not yet experienced. Everything that was difficult and, most importantly, offensive in her position, was vividly imagined to her. “They, the French, will settle in this house; Mr. General Rameau will occupy the office of Prince Andrei; It will be fun to sort through and read his letters and papers. M lle Bourienne lui fera les honneurs de Bogucharovo. [Mademoiselle Bourien will receive him with honors in Bogucharovo.] They will give me a room out of mercy; soldiers will destroy their father's fresh grave to remove crosses and stars from him; they will tell me about victories over the Russians, they will feign sympathy for my grief... - Princess Marya thought not with her own thoughts, but feeling obligated to think for herself with the thoughts of her father and brother. For her personally, it didn’t matter where she stayed and no matter what happened to her; but at the same time she felt like a representative of her late father and Prince Andrei. She involuntarily thought with their thoughts and felt them with their feelings. Whatever they would say, whatever they would do now, that is what she felt necessary to do. She went to Prince Andrei’s office and, trying to penetrate his thoughts, pondered her situation.
The demands of life, which she considered destroyed with the death of her father, suddenly arose with a new, still unknown force before Princess Marya and overwhelmed her. Excited, red-faced, she walked around the room, demanding first Alpatych, then Mikhail Ivanovich, then Tikhon, then Dron. Dunyasha, the nanny and all the girls could not say anything about the extent to which what M lle Bourienne announced was fair. Alpatych was not at home: he had gone to see his superiors. The summoned Mikhail Ivanovich, the architect, who came to Princess Marya with sleepy eyes, could not say anything to her. With exactly the same smile of agreement with which he had been accustomed for fifteen years to respond, without expressing his opinion, to the old prince’s appeals, he answered Princess Marya’s questions, so that nothing definite could be deduced from his answers. The summoned old valet Tikhon, with a sunken and haggard face, bearing the imprint of incurable grief, answered “I listen with” to all the questions of Princess Marya and could hardly restrain himself from sobbing, looking at her.
Finally, the elder Dron entered the room and, bowing low to the princess, stopped at the lintel.
Princess Marya walked around the room and stopped opposite him.
“Dronushka,” said Princess Marya, who saw in him an undoubted friend, the same Dronushka who, from his annual trip to the fair in Vyazma, brought her his special gingerbread every time and served her with a smile. “Dronushka, now, after our misfortune,” she began and fell silent, unable to speak further.
“We all walk under God,” he said with a sigh. They were silent.
- Dronushka, Alpatych has gone somewhere, I have no one to turn to. Is it true that they tell me that I can’t leave?
“Why don’t you go, your Excellency, you can go,” said Dron.
“They told me it was dangerous from the enemy.” Darling, I can’t do anything, I don’t understand anything, there’s no one with me. I definitely want to go at night or early tomorrow morning. – The drone was silent. He glanced at Princess Marya from under his brows.
“There are no horses,” he said, “I told Yakov Alpatych too.”
- Why not? - said the princess.
“It’s all from God’s punishment,” said Dron. “Which horses there were were dismantled for use by the troops, and which ones died, what year it is today.” It’s not like feeding the horses, but making sure we don’t die of hunger ourselves! And they sit like that for three days without eating. There is nothing, they are completely ruined.
Princess Marya listened carefully to what he told her.
- Are the men ruined? Do they have no bread? – she asked.
“They’re dying of starvation,” said Dron, “not like the carts...”
- Why didn’t you tell me, Dronushka? Can't you help? I will do everything I can... - It was strange for Princess Marya to think that now, at such a moment, when such grief filled her soul, there could be rich and poor people and that the rich could not help the poor. She vaguely knew and heard that there was master's bread and that it was given to the peasants. She also knew that neither her brother nor her father would refuse the needs of the peasants; she was only afraid of somehow making a mistake in her words about this distribution of bread to the peasants, which she wanted to dispose of. She was glad that she was presented with an excuse for concern, one for which she was not ashamed to forget her grief. She began asking Dronushka for details about the needs of the men and about what was lordly in Bogucharovo.
– After all, we have the master’s bread, brother? – she asked.
“The master’s bread is all intact,” Dron said proudly, “our prince did not order it to be sold.”

John Dalton was born on September 6, 1766 into a poor family in the northern English village of Eaglesfield. At the age of thirteen he completed his studies at the local school and became an assistant teacher himself.

In Kendal in the autumn of 1781 he became a mathematics teacher.

Dalton began his scientific research in 1787 with observations and experimental studies of air. He also studied mathematics, using the rich school library. He began to independently develop new mathematical problems and solutions, and after that he wrote his first scientific works in this area. Four years later he became the school director. During this time he became close to Dr. Charles Haton, editor of several journals of the Royal Military Academy. Dalton became one of the regular authors of these almanacs. He received several high awards for his contribution to the development of mathematics and philosophy. In 1793 he moved to Manchester, where he taught at New College. He brought with him the manuscript of “Meteorological Observations and Etudes.” In addition to describing the barometer, thermometer, hygrometer and other instruments and apparatus, Dalton analyzed in it the processes of cloud formation, evaporation, distribution of precipitation, morning northern winds, etc.

In 1794 Dalton became a member of the Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1800 he was elected secretary, in May 1808 - vice president, and from 1817 until the end of his life he was president.

In the fall of 1794, he gave a presentation on color blindness. Today we call this particular vision defect color blindness.

In 1799 Dalton left New College and became the most expensive private teacher in Manchester. He taught to wealthy families no more than two hours a day, and then studied science. His attention was attracted by gases and gas mixtures.

Dalton made several fundamental discoveries - the law of uniform expansion of gases when heated (1802), the law of multiple ratios (1803), the phenomenon of polymerization (using the example of ethylene and butylene).

On September 6, 1803, Dalton wrote down the first table of atomic weights in his laboratory journal. He first mentioned atomic theory in a paper “On the Absorption of Gases by Water and Other Liquids,” read on October 21, 1803 at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.

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In December 1803 - May 1804, Dalton gave a course of lectures on relative atomic weights at the Royal Institution in London. Dalton developed the atomic theory in his book “A New System of Chemical Philosophy,” published in 1808. In it, he emphasizes two points: all chemical reactions are the result of the joining or fission of atoms, all atoms of different elements have different weights.

In 1816, Dalton was elected a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. The following year he became president of the Society in Manchester, and in 1818 the English government appointed him a scientific expert on the expedition of Sir John Ross, who personally presented the appointment to the scientist.

But Dalton remained in England. He preferred quiet work in his office, not wanting to get scattered and waste precious time. Research to determine atomic weights continued.

In 1822 Dalton became a fellow of the Royal Society. Soon after this he left for France.

In 1826, the English government awarded the scientist a golden order for his discoveries in the field of chemistry and physics, and mainly for the creation of the atomic theory. Dalton was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, a scientific society in Moscow, and the Academy in Munich.

In France, to recognize the achievements of the world's outstanding scientists, the Paris Academy of Sciences elected its honorary council.

In 1832 Dalton was awarded the highest honor of Oxford University. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law. Of the naturalists of that time, only Faraday was awarded this honor.

In 1833 he was granted a pension. The government's decision was read out at a ceremonial meeting at Cambridge University.

Dalton, despite his advanced age, continued to work hard and give presentations. However, with the advent of old age, illnesses became more and more common, and it became increasingly difficult to work. Dalton died on July 27, 1844.

There is an opinion that the distant ancestors of man saw the world around him in black and white colors. Then, in the process of evolution, the sensation of light bifurcated into yellow and blue. After some time, the yellow disintegrated into red and green.

Cases of color blindness and reduced sensitivity to certain colors in some people are a return to the physiological properties of our distant ancestors.

There are three types of color blindness: red ( protanopia ), green ( deuteranopia ) and, much less frequently, to blue ( tritanopia ).

On the left is a reproduction of the painting “Waiting” by artist Bogdanov.
On the right is a copy of this reproduction by an artist who is color blind to red.
Drawings from the collection of Professor E. B. Rabkin

This phenomenon was first studied and described in 1794 by an English scientist (1766-1844), and from his own experience - he himself suffered from this defect.

Until the age of 24, Dalton did not even suspect that he had a visual impairment, until he became interested in botany in 1790. It was then that he discovered that it was difficult for him to understand botanical monographs and identification guides. When the text referred to white or yellow flowers, he had no difficulty, but if the flowers were described as purple, pink or dark red, they all seemed indistinguishable from blue to Dalton.

At first he considered this to be a confusion in the classification of colors, rather than a fault in his own vision. However, then he noticed that the flower, which in the daytime in the light of the sun he saw as sky blue, in the light of a candle became dark red for him. Dalton turned to those around him, but no one noticed such a strange transformation except his brother. Thus, Dalton realized that there was something wrong with his vision and that this problem was inherited. Dalton had three brothers and a sister, two of the brothers suffered from red color blindness.

Dalton suffered from a rather rare form of color blindness - deuteranopia, in which the eye does not detect light of medium wavelengths. In addition to violet and blue, he could only normally recognize one color - yellow. He himself described it this way: “The part of the painting that others call red seems to me like a shadow or just poorly lit. Orange, green and yellow seem to be shades of the same color, from intense to pale yellow.”.

Dalton decided that there was some kind of blue filter in his eyes. After his death, he bequeathed to remove his eyes and check whether the vitreous body was colored bluish. The scientist's will was fulfilled, but nothing special or unusual was found in his eyes.

Dalton's eyes were preserved in alcohol at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, and already in our time, in 1995, geneticists isolated and studied DNA from the retina. As one would expect, genes for color blindness were found in her.

Dalton’s study of his own illness was so accurate and correct that the term “color blindness” was firmly attached to this illness, and in our time every schoolchild is familiar with the term “color blindness,” even if he does not fully understand what it means.

Did you know that...

A self-taught English provincial teacher, chemist, meteorologist and naturalist, John Dalton was one of the most famous and respected scientists of his time. Today, his name is better known to us by the name of the visual defect - color blindness, which was named in his honor as the discoverer and researcher of this phenomenon. However, in his time Dalton was widely known for his many innovative works in a variety of fields of knowledge. He discovered the law of partial pressures (Dalton's law), the law of uniform expansion of gases when heated, the law of solubility of gases in liquids (Henry-Dalton's law), and the law of multiple ratios. Dalton discovered the phenomenon of polymerization (using the example of ethylene and butylene), introduced the concept of “atomic weight,” was the first to calculate the atomic weights (mass) of a number of elements and compiled the first table of their relative atomic weights, thereby laying the foundation for the atomic theory of the structure of matter.

Dalton's merits were duly noted. He was a professor at Manchester College, Oxford University, a member of the French Academy of Sciences (1816), president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, a member of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

John Dalton was born in the small settlement of Eaglesfield in Cumberland County, England, into the family of a poor weaver, Joseph Dalton, and Deborah Greenup, who came from a prosperous English family of Quakers - members of the Christian movement, whose ideology ran counter to the letter of the New Testament.

At the age of 15, John helps his older brother Jonathan run his private Quaker school in Kenda, Cumbria.

Since 1787, John has kept a diary of meteorological observations, and over the course of his entire life, over 57 years, he will record about 20,000 weather observations in it.

Somewhere around 1790, Dalton made plans to enter the law or medical faculty of the institute, but since he belonged to the “sectarians” - members of groups opposed to the Church of England - he was prohibited from studying in English educational institutions.

Scientific activity

In 1793, Dalton moved to Manchester, where he received a post as teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at New College, a sectarian academy providing jobs to religious nonconformists with higher education.

Throughout his youth, Dalton's example and role model was Elihu Robinson, an outstanding Quaker and infallible meteorologist, who instilled in the boy an interest in mathematics and meteorology.

In 1793, Dalton's first book of essays on meteorological topics, based on his personal observations, was published. This work lays the foundation for all his further works.

In 1794, the scientist wrote a scientific article entitled “Unusual Facts Concerning the Vision of Colors” - one of his earliest works on the topic of color perception of the human eye.

In 1800, Dalton made a report presenting to the public his article “Experimental Notes,” which dealt with experiments with gases and the study of the nature and chemical component of air relative to atmospheric pressure.

In 1801, the second book, “A Basic Course in English Grammar,” was published. In the same year, the scientist discovered “Dalton’s law” - an empirical law obtained as a result of working with gases.

By 1803, his experiments with the “pressure of a mixture of ideal gases” led to the derivation of the “law of partial pressure,” named after the scientist.

In the early 1800s Dalton formulates the theory of “thermal expansion” and “heating and cooling reactions in gases”, taking into account the expansion and compression of air.

In 1803, he wrote an article for the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, in which he presented a table of relative atomic weights - one of the first definitions of atomic weights at that time.

In 1808, in A New System of the Philosophy of Chemistry, he further explained atomic theory and atomic weights, expressing his own vision of how chemical elements could be determined based on their atomic mass.

In 1810, Dalton published an appendix to his book “A New System of Philosophy of Chemistry,” in which he carefully elaborated the “atomic theory of the structure of matter” and the concept of “atomic weight.”

Main works

In 1801, the scientist derived “Dalton’s law,” also known as “Dalton’s law of partial pressure,” which is now widely used by scuba divers to measure pressure levels at different ocean depths and its effect on breathing gas consumption and nitrogen concentrations.

He coins the term “color blindness” to define color blindness, which takes its name from the scientist’s name. Dalton discusses this topic in his article “Extraordinary Facts Concerning the Vision of Flowers, with Observations.”

In his work “A New System of Philosophy of Chemistry,” published in 1808, he develops the “atomic theory of the structure of matter” and becomes the first scientist to compile a table of relative atomic weights. This theory, which laid the foundation for further research in this area, is still relevant in our time.

Awards and achievements

In 1794 Dalton was elected a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1800, the scientist became the scientific secretary of the society, and from 1817 headed it.

Personal life and legacy

Dalton remained a bachelor all his life, leading a modest life and communicating with only a few friends who belonged to the Quaker group.

In 1837, the scientist suffered a heart attack, which, a few years later, was followed by another, as a result of which he developed speech problems.

After the third blow, which overtook Dalton at the age of 77, he falls out of bed, and, some time later, the maid who brought the scientist tea finds him dead.

Dalton was buried at Manchester Town Hall.

In memory of his scientific achievements, many chemists and biochemists use the extra-systemic unit of measurement "dalton", which is an atomic unit of mass.

John Dalton was born on September 6, 1766 into a poor family in the northern English village of Eaglesfield. From an early age he had to help his parents support their family. At the age of thirteen he completed his studies at the local school and became an assistant teacher himself. But the salary was meager, and John went to Kendal in search of a better life.

Here in the fall of 1781 he became a mathematics teacher. The room that was assigned to him in the men's boarding school at the school was modestly furnished, but even a life full of hardships did not teach him to wastefulness. Moreover, in the new room the young teacher felt like in a palace. After all, its shelves were bursting with books. Now John Dalton had every opportunity to expand his knowledge, and he read, read, read.

At the same time as reading, John did not abandon his favorite pastime - constant observation of the weather. The first thing he did was hang a barometer on the wall.

Dalton was engaged in meteorological observations (the processing of the results of which made it possible to discover gas laws) all his life. He took daily notes with the greatest care and recorded more than two hundred thousand observations. He made his last entry a few hours before his death.

Dalton began his scientific research in 1787 with observations and experimental studies of air. He also studied mathematics intensively, using the rich school library. Gradually, he began to independently develop new mathematical problems and solutions, and after that he wrote his first scientific works in this area. Dalney, always seeking knowledge, soon won the respect of not only his colleagues, but also the citizens of the city of Kendal. Four years later he became the school director. During this time he became close to Dr. Charles Haton, editor of several journals of the Royal Military Academy.

Designed for the general public, they often published articles of a scientific nature on their pages. This was explained by the doctor’s desire to popularize science. Dalton became one of the regular authors of these almanacs: many of his scientific works were published in them. He received several high awards for his contribution to the development of mathematics and philosophy. The name of John Dalton was already known not only in Kendal. He also lectures in Manchester. And in 1793 he moved there and taught at New College. Dalton liked his new job. In addition to college classes, he also gave private lessons, mainly in mathematics.

He brought with him the manuscript of “Meteorological Observations and Etudes,” which delighted the publisher Pennsville. In addition to describing the barometer, thermometer, hygrometer and other instruments and apparatus and presenting the results of long-term observations, Dalton masterfully analyzed in it the processes of cloud formation, evaporation, distribution of precipitation, morning northern winds, etc. The manuscript was immediately published, and the monograph was met with great interest.

A year after arriving in Manchester, Dalton became a member of the Literary and Philosophical Society. He regularly attended all meetings at which members of the Society reported the results of their research. In 1800 he was elected secretary, in May 1808 - vice president, and from 1817 until the end of his life he was president.

In the fall of 1794, he gave a presentation on color blindness. Dalton found that among his students, some could not distinguish colors at all, and some often confused them. They saw green as red, or vice versa, but there were also those who confused blue and yellow.

Today we call this particular vision defect color blindness. In total, Dalton made 119 reports to the Society.

In 1799 Dalton left New College and became not only the most expensive, but also the most respected private teacher in Manchester. Time was now his. He taught to wealthy families no more than two hours a day, and then studied science. His attention was increasingly attracted to gases and gas mixtures. Air is also a gas mixture.

The results of the experiments turned out to be interesting. The pressure of a given gas, enclosed in a vessel with a constant volume, remained unchanged. Then Dalton introduced a second gas. The resulting mixture had a higher pressure, but it was equal to the sum of the pressures of the two gases.

The pressure of the individual gas remained unchanged.

“From my experiments it follows that the pressure of the gas mixture is equal to the sum of the pressures that the gases have if they are separately introduced into this vessel under the same conditions. If the pressure of an individual gas in a mixture is called partial, then this pattern can be formulated as follows: the pressure of a gas mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the gases from which it is composed, wrote Dalton. - From this we can draw important conclusions! It is clear that the state of the gas in the vessel does not depend on the presence of other gases. This, of course, can be easily explained by their corpuscular structure.

Consequently, the corpuscles or atoms of one gas are evenly distributed among the atoms of another gas, but behave as if there was no other gas in the vessel.”

Continuing his research on gases, Dalton made several more fundamental discoveries - the law of uniform expansion of gases when heated (1802), the law of multiple ratios (1803), the phenomenon of polymerization (using the example of ethylene and butylene).

But the scientist was haunted by atoms. What, in essence, is known about them?

If atoms exist, then all the properties of substances, all laws should be explained on the basis of atomic theory. This is what chemistry is missing - a true theory of the structure of matter!

Fascinated by the new idea, Dalton began persistent research. It is necessary, first of all, to obtain a clear understanding of atoms.

What are their characteristic features? Are atoms of one element different from atoms of another? Is there any way, despite the fact that they are negligible and invisible to the naked eye, to determine their weight, shape, size...

Several years of hard work - and the results were not long in coming. On September 6, 1803, Dalton wrote down the first table of atomic weights in his laboratory journal. He first mentioned atomic theory in a paper “On the Absorption of Gases by Water and Other Liquids,” read on October 21, 1803 at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society:

“All previously existing theories of corpuscles agree that they are small identical balls. I believe that atoms (the smallest indivisible particles) of one element are identical to each other, but different from the atoms of other elements. If at the moment nothing definite can be said about their sizes, then we can talk about their basic physical property: atoms have weight. In confirmation of this, allow me to read my second work: “The first table of the relative weights of finite particles of bodies.” An atom cannot be isolated and weighed. If we assume that atoms are connected to each other in the simplest relationships, and analyze complex substances, and then compare the weight percentages of the elements with the weight percentage of the lightest of them, you can get interesting values. This data shows how many times an atom of one element is heavier than the atom of the lightest element. Pay attention to the first table of these scales. She is in front of you. The lightest element was hydrogen. This means that its atomic weight should be conventionally taken as unity...”

In December 1803 - May 1804, Dalton gave a course of lectures on relative atomic weights at the Royal Institution in London. Dalton developed the atomic theory in his second book, “A New System of Chemical Philosophy,” published in 1808. In it, he emphasizes two points: all chemical reactions are the result of the joining or fission of atoms, all atoms of different elements have different weights.

At the end of 1809, Dalton went to London, where he met and talked with the largest scientists in England, visited laboratories, and became acquainted with their work. He especially often talked with Humphry Davy. The young researcher was overwhelmed with ideas. Dalton became acquainted with the new elements discovered by Davy - potassium and sodium.

Despite his exceptional modesty of character, the scientist’s fame grew day by day. They were already talking about him outside of England. Dalton's atomic theory interested scientists in Europe. In 1816, Dalton was elected a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. The following year he became president of the Society in Manchester, and in 1818 the English government appointed him a scientific expert on the expedition of Sir John Ross, who personally presented the appointment to the scientist.

But Dalton remained in England. He preferred quiet work in his office, not wanting to get scattered and waste precious time. Research to determine atomic weights continued. The results obtained became more and more accurate. New ideas came, interesting assumptions arose, and the results of the analyzes of many scientists had to be recalculated and corrected. Not only English scientists, but also scientists from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Russia closely followed his achievements.

In 1822 Dalton became a fellow of the Royal Society. Soon after this he left for France. The scientific community of Paris gave Dalton a warm welcome. He attended several meetings, read a number of reports, and talked with many scientists.

Dalton's great scientific work received universal recognition. In 1826, the English government awarded the scientist a golden order for his discoveries in the field of chemistry and physics, and mainly for the creation of the atomic theory. The Order was presented at a ceremonial meeting of the Royal Society of London. Sir Humphry Davy gave a big speech. In the following years, Dalton was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, a scientific society in Moscow, and the Academy in Munich.

In France, to recognize the achievements of the world's outstanding scientists, the Paris Academy of Sciences elected its honorary council. It consisted of eleven of the most famous scientists in Europe. English science was represented in it by Humphry Davy. After his death, this place was taken by John Dalton. In 1831, Dalton received an invitation from York to attend the founding meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1832 Dalton was awarded the highest honor of Oxford University. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law. Of the naturalists of that time, only Faraday was awarded this honor.

And the English government was forced to become interested in the fate of Dalton. In 1833, he was granted a pension. The government's decision was read out at a ceremonial meeting at Cambridge University.

Dalton, despite his advanced age, continued to work hard and give presentations. However, with the advent of old age, illnesses became more and more common, and it became increasingly difficult to work. On July 27, 1844, Dalton died.

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