Timeline

Advancement of Chemistry

Democritus
Around 400 B.C.E.

First to propose that matter exist in the form of particles. Coined the term ‘atoms.’ “by
convention bitter, by convention sweet, but in reality atoms and void”.Democritus was a central
figure in the development of the atomic theory of the universe. He theorized that all material
bodies are made up of indivisibly small “atoms.” Aristotle famously rejected atomism in On
Generation and Corruption.

Boyle, Sir Robert

1662

Formulated the fundamental gas laws. First to propose the combination of small particles to
form molecules. Differentiated between compounds and mixtures. The pressure and volume of
a gas has an inverse relationship. If volume increases, then pressure decreases and vice versa,
when the temperature is held constant.

Dalton, John
 1803

Proposed atomic theory based on measurable masses (1807). Stated law of partial pressure of

gasses. Dalton's atomic theory was the first complete attempt to describe all matter in terms
of atoms and their properties. Dalton based his theory on the law of conservation of mass and
the law of constant composition. The first part of his theory states that all matter is made
of atoms, which are indivisible.

Mendeléev, Dmitri
1869

Discovered periodicity of the elements. Compiled the first Periodic Table with elements
arranged into 7 groups (1869). Mendeleev found that, when all the known chemical elements
were arranged in order of increasing atomic weight, the resulting table displayed a recurring
pattern, or periodicity, of properties within groups of elements. From left to right across each
row, elements are arranged by increasing atomic mass. Mendeleev discovered that if he placed
eight elements in each row and then continued on to the next row, the columns of the table
would contain elements with similar properties. He called the columns groups.
 Thomson, Sir J.J.
1897

J.J. Thomson's experiments with cathode ray tubes showed that all atoms contain tiny
negatively charged subatomic particles or electrons. Thomson proposed the plum pudding
model of the atom, which had negatively-charged electrons embedded within a positively-
charged "soup." Research on cathode rays proved existence of electrons (1896). Nobel Prize in
1906.

Curie, Marie

1898

Polonium was discovered by Marie Sklodowska Curie, a Polish chemist, in 1898. She

obtained polonium from pitchblende, a material that contains uranium, after noticing that
unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that was separated from it.
Bismuth-210 decays into polonium-210 through beta decay. Pierre and Marie Curie had
discovered radium by measuring the radioactivity of pitchblende, an ore from which uranium
was extracted. The radioactivity of pitchblende was much greater than that of pure uranium.The
ore was considered useless because the uranium had already been extracted from it.
 Rutherford, Sir Ernest
1911

In 1911, Rutherford, Marsden and Geiger discovered the dense atomic nucleus by bombarding

a thin gold sheet with the alpha particles emitted by radium. From this observation, they
concluded that almost all the atomic matter was concentrated in a tiny volume situated at the
atome center, the atomic nucleus. The positively charged particles and most of the mass of an
atom was concentrated in an extremely small volume. He called this region of the atom as a
nucleus. Rutherford model proposed that the negatively charged electrons surround the nucleus
of an atom.

Chadwick, Sir James

1932

The physicist James Chadwick conducted an experiment in which he bombarded Beryllium with

alpha particles from the natural radioactive decay of Polonium. They used a different method for
tracking particle radiation. Chadwick repeated their experiments but with the goal of looking for
a neutral particle -- one with the same mass as a proton, but with zero charge. His experiments
were successful.
 Anderson, Carl
1932

The positron was the first evidence of antimatter and was discovered when Anderson allowed

cosmic rays to pass through a cloud chamber and a lead plate. A magnet surrounded this
apparatus, causing particles to bend in different directions based on their electric charge. By
studying the tracks of cosmic ray particles in a cloud chamber, in 1932 Carl Anderson
discovered a positively-charged particle with a mass seemingly equal to that of an electron. Carl
Anderson's particle was the first antiparticle proven by experiment and was named a "positron".

Fermi, Enrico
1933

In particle physics, Fermi's interaction (also the Fermi theory of beta decay or the Fermi four-

fermion interaction) is an explanation of the beta decay, proposed by Enrico Fermi in 1933. The
theory posits four fermions directly interacting with one another (at one vertex of the
associated Feynman diagram). This interaction explains beta decay of a neutron by direct
coupling of a neutron with an electron, a neutrino (later determined to be an antineutrino) and
a proton. Fermi first introduced this coupling in his description of beta decay in 1933. The Fermi
interaction was the precursor to the theory for the weak interaction where the interaction
between the proton–neutron and electron–antineutrino is mediated by a virtual W-Boson, of
which the Fermi theory is the low-energy effective field theory.