A Timeline on Atomic Structure

400 B.C. Democritus’ atomic theory posited that all matter is made up small indestructible units
he called atoms.

1704 Isaac Newton theorized a mechanical universe with small, solid masses in motion.

1803 John Dalton proposed that elements consisted of atoms that were identical and had the
same mass and that compounds were atoms from different elements combined together.

1832 Michael Faraday developed the two laws of electrochemistry.

1859 J. Plucker built one of the first cathode-ray tubes.

1869 Dmitri Mendeleev created the periodic table.

1873 James Clerk Maxwell proposed the theory of electromagnetism and made the connection
between light and electromagnetic waves.

1874 G.J. Stoney theorized that electricity was comprised of negative particles he called
electrons.

1879 Sir William Crookes’ experiments with cathode-ray tubes led him to confirm the work
of earlier scientists by definitively demonstrating that cathode-rays have a negative charge.

1886 E. Goldstein discovered canal rays, which have a positive charge equal to an electron.

1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays.

1896 Henri Becquerel discovered radiation by studying the effects of x-rays on photographic
film.

1897 J.J. Thomson determined the charge to mass ratio of electrons.

1898 Rutherford discovered alpha, beta, and gamma rays in radiation.

1898 Marie Sklodowska Curie discovered radium and polonium and coined the term
radioactivity after studying the decay process of uranium and thorium.

1900 Max Planck proposed the idea of quantization to explain how a hot, glowing object
emitted light.
1900 Frederick Soddy came up with the term "isotope" to explain the unintentional breakdown
of radioactive elements.

1903 Hantaro Nagaoka proposed an atomic model called the Saturnian Model to describe the
structure of an atom.

1904 Richard Abegg found that inert gases have a “stable electron configuration.”

1906 Hans Geiger invented a device that could detect alpha particles.

1914 H.G.J. Moseley discovered that the number of protons in an element determines its
atomic number.

1919 Francis William Aston used a mass spectrograph to identify 212 isotopes.

1922 Niels Bohr proposed an atomic structure theory that stated the outer orbit of an atom
could hold more electrons than the inner orbit.

1923 Louis de Broglie proposed that electrons have a wave/particle duality.

1929 Cockcroft / Walton created the first nuclear reaction, producing alpha particles

1930 Paul Dirac proposed the existence of anti-particles.

1932 James Chadwick discovered neutrons, particles whose mass was close to that of a proton.

1938 Lise Meitner, Hahn, Strassman discovered nuclear fission.

1941-51 Glenn Seaborg discovered eight transuranium elements.

1942 Enrico Fermi created the first man-made nuclear reactor.

400 bc-democritus

The ancient philosopher, Heraclitus, maintained that everything is in a state of flux. Nothing escapes change of some
sort (it is impossible to step into the same river). On the other hand, Parmenides argued that everything is what it is,
so that it cannot become what is not (change is impossible because a substance would have to transition through
nothing to become something else, which is a logical contradiction). Thus, change is incompatible with being so that
only the permanent aspects of the Universe could be considered real.

An ingenious escape was proposed in the fifth century B.C. by Democritus. He hypothesized that all matter (plus
space and time) is composed of tiny indestructible units, called atoms. This idea seems motivated by the question of
how finely one can go on cutting up matter. While Democritus performed no experiments and had only the flimsiest
evidence for postulating the existence of atoms, his theory was kept alive by the Roman poet Lucretius which
survived the Dark Ages to be discovered in 1417. The atoms in Democritus theory themselves remain unchanged,
but move about in space to combine in various ways to form all macroscopic objects. Early atomic theory stated that
the characteristics of an object are determined by the shape of its atoms. So, for example, sweet things are made of
smooth atoms, bitter things are made of sharp atoms.

In this manner permanence and flux are reconciled and the field of atomic physics was born. Although Democritus'
ideas were to solve a philosophical dilemma, the fact that there is some underlying, elemental substance to the
Universe is a primary driver in modern physics, the search for the ultimate subatomic particle.

1704- Isaac newton

1803- John Dalton

1832- Michael faraday

1859- jay plucker

1869- Dmitri Mendeleev

1873- james clerkmaxwell

1874 – gj stoney

1879- William crookes

1886- e Goldstein

1895 – Wilhelm rowentgen

1896 – henri Becquerel

1897 – jj Thompson

1898 – Rutherford
1898 – marie skldowaka