The Atom
()
About this ebook
The Atom is an 19th century overview of the theory of the atom.
Related to The Atom
Related ebooks
Relativity: The Special and General Theory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nuclear Physics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Physics from 2000BCE to 1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpace Time and Gravitation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quarks to Cosmos: Linking All the Sciences and Humanities in a Creative Hierarchy Through Relationships Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Atom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurfaces and Interfaces: Physics and Electronics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Physics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Brief History of Element Discovery, Synthesis, and Analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhysics in Daily Life & Simple College Physics-I (Classical Mechanics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Science: From Agriculture to Artificial Intelligence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuantum Theory of the Solid State Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Brief History of Physical Science Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reinventing Gravity: Think Physics, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGravitation and Relativity: International Series in Natural Philosophy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGravitational Waves: How Einstein's spacetime ripples reveal the secrets of the universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fundamental Principles of Modern Theoretical Physics: International Series of Monographs in Natural Philosophy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpace And Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Matter Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFundamentals of physics Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5From Dust to Life: The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Introduction to the Electron Theory of Solids: Metallurgy Division Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnderstanding Light as a Particle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsString Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlasma Physics for Astrophysics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Langevin and Generalised Langevin Approach to the Dynamics of Atomic, Polymeric and Colloidal Systems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGravitational Waves: A New Window to the Universe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLectures on Gas Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaser Light Scattering: Basic Principles and Practice. Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Physics For You
Quantum Physics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Physics I For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quantum Physics: A Beginners Guide to How Quantum Physics Affects Everything around Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Effect: Quantum Entanglement, Science's Strangest Phenomenon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reality Revolution: The Mind-Blowing Movement to Hack Your Reality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Step By Step Mixing: How to Create Great Mixes Using Only 5 Plug-ins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Theory of Relativity: And Other Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5String Theory For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feynman Lectures Simplified 1A: Basics of Physics & Newton's Laws Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flatland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Physics Essentials For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First War of Physics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What the Bleep Do We Know!?™: Discovering the Endless Possibilities for Altering Your Everyday Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Atom
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Atom - Thomas Spencer Baynes
THE ATOM
..................
Thomas Spencer Baynes and William Robertson Smith
PAPHOS PUBLISHERS
Thank you for reading. If you enjoy this book, please leave a review or connect with the author.
All rights reserved. Aside from brief quotations for media coverage and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the author’s permission. Thank you for supporting authors and a diverse, creative culture by purchasing this book and complying with copyright laws.
Copyright © 2016 by Thomas Spencer Baynes and William Robertson Smith
Interior design by Pronoun
Distribution by Pronoun
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ATOM
The Atom
By Thomas Spencer Baynes and William Robertson Smith
ATOM
..................
ATOM (ἌΤΟΜΟΣ) IS A BODY which cannot be cut in two. The atomic theory is a theory of the constitution of bodies, which asserts that they are made up of atoms. The opposite theory is that of the homogeneity and continuity of bodies, and asserts, at least in the case of bodies having no apparent organisation, such, for instance, as water, that as we can divide a drop of water into two parts which are each of them drops of water, so we have reason to believe that these smaller drops can be divided again, and the theory goes on to assert that there is nothing in the nature of things to hinder this process of division from being repeated over and over again, times without end. This is the doctrine of the infinite divisibility of bodies, and it is in direct contradiction with the theory of atoms.
The atomists assert that after a certain number of such divisions the parts would be no longer divisible, because each of them would be an atom. The advocates of the continuity of matter assert that the smallest conceivable body has parts, and that whatever has parts may be divided.
In ancient times Democritus was the founder of the atomic theory, while Anaxagoras propounded that of continuity, under the name of the doctrine of homœomeria (Ὁμοιομέρια), or of the similarity of the parts of a body to the whole. The arguments of the atomists, and their replies to the objections of Anaxagoras, are to be found in Lucretius.
In modern times the study of nature has brought to light many properties of bodies which appear to depend on the magnitude and motions of their ultimate constituents, and the question of the existence of atoms has once more become conspicuous among scientific inquiries.
We shall begin by stating the opposing doctrines of atoms and of continuity before giving an outline of the state of molecular science as it now exists. In the earliest times the most ancient philosophers whose speculations are known to us seem to have discussed the ideas of number and of continuous magnitude, of space and time, of matter and motion, with a native power of thought which has probably never been surpassed. Their actual knowledge, however, and their scientific experience were necessarily limited, because in their days the records of human thought were only beginning to accumulate. It is probable that the first exact notions of quantity were founded on the consideration of number. It is by the help of numbers that concrete quantities are practically measured and calculated. Now, number is discontinuous. We pass from one number to the next per saltum. The magnitudes, on the other hand, which we meet with in geometry, are essentially continuous. The attempt to apply numerical methods to the comparison of geometrical quantities led to the doctrine of incommensurables, and to that of the infinite divisibility of space. Meanwhile, the same considerations had not been applied to time, so that in the days of Zeno of Elea time was still regarded as made up of a finite number of moments,
while space was confessed to be divisible without limit. This was the state of opinion when the celebrated arguments against the possibility of motion, of which that of Achilles and the tortoise is a specimen, were propounded by Zeno, and such, apparently, continued to be the state of opinion till Aristotle pointed out that time is divisible without limit, in precisely the same sense that space is.-And the slowness of the develop ment of scientific ideas may be estimated from the fact that Bayle does not see any force in this statement of Aristotle, but continues to admire the paradox of Zeno. (Bayle’s Dictionary, art. Zeno
). Thus the direction of true scientific progress was for many ages towards the, recogni tion of the infinite divisibility of space and time.
It was easy to attempt to apply similar arguments to matter. If matter is extended and fills space, the same mental operation by which we recognise the divisibility of space may be applied, in imagination at least, to the matter which occupies space. From this point of view the atomic doctrine might be regarded as a relic of the old numerical way of conceiving magnitude, and the opposite doctrine of the infinite divisibility of matter might appear for a time the most scientific. The atomists, on the other hand, asserted very strongly the distinction between matter and space. The atoms, they said,