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460 BCE
Demnocritus
He devised what he thought an atom looked like and said that they were microscopic and indestructible.
He proved that atoms were microscopic which is the basis of everything we understand about atoms today.
He died in 370 BC. -
John Dalton
He was best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry. He also did research into color blindness, which some called Daltonism in his honor.
His theory showed that all matter is composed of tiny particles called atoms - this was the beginning of how we see the atom today.
He died July 27, 1844 -
Dmitri Mendeleev
He formulated the Periodic Law and created a basic form of the periodic table of elements.
If it weren't for Mendeleev, we may not know that the elements go in order according to their atomic weight.
He died February 2, 1907 -
J.J. Thompson
JJ Thompson is credited with the discovery of the electron, which was the first subatomic particle to be discovered.
Because of his discovery, we learned that atoms are made up of parts.
He died August 30th, 1940 -
E. Rutherford
He postulated the nuclear structure of an atom and discovered alpha and beta rays. He came to be known as the father of nuclear physics.
Because of his discoveries, we know the nuclear structure of the atom.
He died October 19, 1937 -
Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory.
Bohr and Ernest Rutherford made a model of an atom which was a system consisting of a small nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons, which taught us about what atoms look like.
He died in November 18th, 1962 -
Erwin Schrodinger
Schrodinger addressed the problem in genetics, looking at it from the point of view of physics.
His groundbreaking wave equation for electron movements changed how we looked at atoms.
He died January 4, 1961 -
James Chadwick
James Chadwick was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1935 in physics for his discovery of the neutron.
He proved the existence of neutrons, which, of course, we know exist in the atom today.
He died July 24, 1974 -
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg was one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics. He discovered allotropic forms of hydrogen and for this discovery was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics.
Today we understand that a particle's position and momentum cannot both be known exactly because of his uncertainty principle.
He died February 1, 1976