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Article: Van der Waals and Molecular Science.
- Article from:
- Chemistry and Industry
- Article date:
- April 7, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Society of Chemical Industry. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Do atoms and molecules really exist? With our modem imaging techniques, which enable us virtually to 'see' atoms, such a question now seems superfluous. But before the relatively recent advent of such methods, chemists had to rely on other evidence. Some elementary textbooks imply that chemists have thought in atomic terms ever since John Dalton introduced his theory in the early 19th century, but the reality was very different. Many scientists prior to the middle of the century, among them Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday, were reluctant to accept Dalton's views, and considered his greatest achievement to be the law of multiple proportions.
After 1860, Dalton's ...