John Dalton's puzzles: from meteorology to chemistry
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 42 (1):58-66 (2011)
| Abstract | Historical research on John Dalton has been dominated by an attempt to reconstruct the origins of his so-called "chemical atomic theory". I show that Dalton's theory is difficult to define in any concise manner, and that there has been no consensus as to its unique content among his contemporaries, later chemists, and modern historians. I propose an approach which, instead of attempting to work backward from Dalton's theory, works forward, by identifying the research questions that Dalton posed to himself and attempting to understand how his hypotheses served as answers to these questions. I describe Dalton's scientific work as an evolving set of puzzles about natural phenomena. I show how an early interest in meteorology led Dalton to see the constitution of the atmosphere as a puzzle. In working on this great puzzle, he gradually turned his interest to specifically chemical questions. In the end, the web of puzzles that he worked on required him to create his own novel philosophy of chemistry for which he is known today. | |||||||||
| Keywords | John Dalton Chemical atomism Chemistry Mixed gases Meteorology | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesKaren R. Zwier (2011). Dalton's Chemical Atoms Versus Duhem's Chemical Equivalents. Philosophy of Science 78 (5):842-853.
Paul Needham (2004). Has Daltonian Atomism Provided Chemistry with Any Explanations? Philosophy of Science 71 (5):1038-1047.
Paul Needham (2004). Has Daltonian Atomism Provided Chemistry with Any Explanations? Philosophy of Science 71 (5):1038-1047.
Catherine S. Trevis Certo, Dan M. Dalton, Richard R. Dalton & H. Lester (2008). Boards of Directors' Self Interest: Expanding for Pay in Corporate Acquisitions? Journal of Business Ethics 77 (2).
Tami I. Spector (2003). The Aesthetics of Molecular Representation: From the Empirical to the Constitutive. Foundations of Chemistry 5 (3):215-236.
Alan Rocke (forthcoming). What Did “Theory” Mean to Nineteenth-Century Chemists? Foundations of Chemistry:1-12.
Richard Bader (2011). On the Non-Existence of Parallel Universes in Chemistry. Foundations of Chemistry 13 (1):11-37.
Hrvoj VanČik (1999). Opus Magnum: An Outline for the Philosophy of Chemistry. Foundations of Chemistry 1 (3).
Hrvoj Vanˇik (1999). Opus Magnum: An Outline for the Philosophy of Chemistry. Foundations of Chemistry 1 (3):239-254.
B. M. Kedrov (1949). Dalton's Atomic Theory and its Philosophical Significance. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 9 (4):644-662.
Emilie Severino & John Dalton (2011). The Position is Arranged. Angelaki 15 (1):61-76.
John Dalton & Emilie Severino (2011). The Position is Arranged. Angelaki 15 (1):61-76.
Alan Chalmers (2012). Klein on the Origin of the Concept of Chemical Compound. Foundations of Chemistry 14 (1):37-53.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2012-02-25Total downloads0Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
