It is difficult to define only one scientific speci alty to which John D alton can be attributed. One of the most respected and honored scientists of his time was a physicist, chemist, meteorologist.
His works devoted to the English language are known. He was the first to investigate the defect in color vision, which he possessed and which was later named after him - color blindness.
Self-Taught Teacher
The versatility of his scientific aspirations and diversity of research interests can be partly explained by his lack of formal education in a particular field. John D alton was born on September 6, 1766 in the town of Eaglesfield, in the county of Kimberland in the north of England, into a poor family of a weaver. His parents were dissenting Quakers who denied anything to do with the established Anglican Church, making it impossible for John to attend educational institutions.
The need to earn from an early age, high ability and the desire for knowledge led to an unexpected result. Thanks to his acquaintance with John Goh, the blind erudite philosopher, who passed on some of his knowledge to him, and the stubbornself-education, John D alton began working as a teacher in a rural school from the age of 12.
D alton Meteorologist
D alton's first publication was a work called Meteorological Observations and Experiments (1793). Thanks to her, he met scientists who helped the young teacher move to Manchester and get a job teaching mathematics at New College. His interest in meteorology came from an acquaintance with Elich Robinson, a scientist and engineer from his hometown of Eaglesfield. John D alton, in his work, containing many of the ideas that led him to the future discovery of gas laws, developed the theory of the formation of atmospheric flows proposed by George Hadley.
In 1787, the scientist began to keep a diary of meteorological observations. John D alton, whose biography is very interesting and instructive, made the last entry in his diary with a weakening hand 57 years later. These notes were the result of studying the composition of atmospheric air - D alton's most significant achievements in chemistry and physics. He was one of the first to measure the air temperature at different altitudes, making regular trips to the mountains in the Lake District in the north-west of the country.
Colorblindness
The second major work of the scientist was devoted to philology - "Peculiarities of English Grammar" (published in 1801), but then his attention was attracted by his own peculiarity of vision, associated with color perception. After living for about 35 years, he discovered that he perceives colors differently than most people, and that the samehis brother has a special feature. Quickly realizing that it was not just a matter of color classification (the color that he called blue was different from what everyone considered it to be), D alton expressed his thoughts on the reasons for this phenomenon.
The conclusion about the hereditary nature of such a visual defect turned out to be correct, but the explanation of its discoloration of the eye fluid was subsequently refuted. The thoroughness of the research and the originality of the approach to the problem, which were shown by scientists in the article "Unusual cases of color perception" (1794), caused the appearance of the term color blindness, which has been used by ophthalmologists since then.
Gas theory
The ability to draw conclusions from observations and experiments that lead to related fields of science is the basis of the creative method, which John D alton mastered to perfection. The discoveries in chemistry and physics made by him are often based on the same experiments. From the study of the composition of the atmosphere, the flows that form the weather, he moved on to the study of the interactions of gases depending on their physical and chemical properties - density, pressure, etc. The results of these works allowed him to make discoveries in the corpuscular - atomic - nature of matter.
Experiments with gases led D alton to the discovery of several fundamental laws: on the partial (inherent in individual components) pressures of a gas mixture (1801), the law of thermal expansion of gases (1802) and the laws of dissolution of gases in liquids (1803). Conclusion about the difference in the size of the atoms that make up gases, about the presenceThe near-atomic thermal shell allowed D alton to explain the nature of the expansion of gases during heating, their diffusion and the dependence of pressure on external conditions.
D alton Atomistics
The idea that everything in nature consists of the smallest indivisible elements was expressed by ancient authors. But it was D alton who gave these ideas materiality. The main provisions of his theory were several statements:
- All material objects consist of the smallest - indivisible, particles created only once - atoms.
- Atoms of the same substance are the same in mass and size.
- Atoms of different elements differ in size and weight.
- More complex particles of matter consist of a certain number of atoms of different types.
- The mass of complex particles of matter is equal to the sum of the masses of their constituent atoms.
The model of the molecule, made by D alton from wooden balls, is carefully preserved. The most important merit of the scientist is the introduction of the concept of relative atomic weight into scientific practice, the definition of the hydrogen atom as a unit of molecular weight. Atomic mass has become the main quantitative characteristic of a substance in chemistry. Not all D alton's ideas about the atomic structure of matter were correct due to the underdevelopment of general physics, but his theory served as a powerful impetus to the knowledge of the atom.
Recognition
Few people have been able to reach the top in science, having such a difficult beginning as John D alton. A short biography of a scientist is a vivid example of how determination and a thirst for knowledge change livesperson. It allows you to follow the path of becoming a strong personality and see how the transformation of a boy who had no chance of getting a serious systematic education, to whom parental beliefs blocked the path to university, into an internationally recognized scientist, a member of the most prestigious scientific Academies in Europe.
There are few examples in history of such a devoted, almost monastic service to science as John D alton led. Photos of portraits painted from the scientist in the final period of his life show a man who gave all his strength to methodical and hard work.
D alton's reward was the recognition of colleagues and students. A statue of the scientist was installed at the entrance to the Royal College of Manchester, where he taught during his lifetime. In the future, this recognition grew into real world fame.
