Dalton

English chemist. Born in the north of England. After graduating from a local Quaker primary school, he studied natural sciences on his own, and showed such outstanding talent at an early age that it was later featured in S. Smiles' famous work, "The Western History of England." In 1781, he moved to Kendal and worked in the management of a primary school. He studied under the blind natural philosopher J. Gough, and began weather observations in 1787. He recorded about 200,000 observations throughout his life, without taking a break. In 1793, he moved to Manchester and became a teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at Manchester College, a non-Anglican higher education institution. He published his first book, "Observations and Treatises on the Meteorology," which explained that the cause of the aurora was geomagnetic. In 1794, he published a paper in which he discovered that he was color blind (color blindness is also known as Daltonism). In the same year, he became a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. He began experimental research on various gases. In 1803, he wrote the first atomic weight table in history (it was published in a magazine in 1805). He integrated the atomic theory premised on I. Newton's natural philosophy with AL Lavoisier's elemental theory, and established the foundations of modern atomic theory by explaining the diversity of elements through the existence of various atoms with different weights. His scientific atomic theory was discussed in detail in his major work, "A New System of Chemical Philosophy" (Vol. 1, Part 1), published in 1808, and shocked many leading scientists, including his friend T. Thomson and H. Davy, who was active in London. However, there was a lot of criticism due to flaws in the principles used to determine the relative weights (atomic weights) of elements, and at one time there was a tendency to use chemical equivalents, which do not assume the existence of atoms, instead of atomic weights. After that, many fundamental ideas were devised to determine atomic weights, and a stable atomic weight table was finally obtained at the International Congress of Chemists held in Karlsruhe in 1860. In 1817 he became president of the Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1826 he became a member of the Royal Society. His final published paper in 1842 was about the Aurora Borealis. He worked as a private tutor while continuing his diligent experimental life and remained single his whole life.

Source: Morikita Publishing "Chemical Dictionary (2nd Edition)" Information about the Chemical Dictionary 2nd Edition

イギリスの化学者．北イングランド出身．地元のクェーカー教徒の小学校を出た後は独学で自然科学を修め，後年S. Smilesの名著“西国立志編”に取りあげられるほど傑出した才能を幼年時に披歴する．1781年ケンダルに移り初等学校の経営に従事．盲目の自然哲学者J. Goughに師事し，1787年より気象観測を開始．生涯休むことなく約20万回の観測記録を残す．1793年マンチェスターに移住し，非国教会系高等教育機関マンチェスター・カレッジの数学・自然哲学の教師に就任．オーロラの原因を地磁気に求めた，最初の著作“気象観測および論文集”を刊行．1794年には自ら色盲であることを発見する論文を発表(色盲のことを一名Daltonismという)．同年マンチェスター文芸哲学協会会員．諸種の気体に関する実験研究をはじめる．1803年史上はじめて原子量表を記述(雑誌発表は1805年)．I. Newton(ニュートン)の自然哲学で前提されていた原子論とA.L. Lavoisier(ラボアジエ)の元素論を統合し，元素の多様性を重量の異なる諸種の原子の存在に求め近代原子論の基礎を築いた．かれの科学的原子論は，1808年刊行の主著“化学哲学の新体系”(第1巻・第1部)で詳細に論じられ，友人T. Thomsonやロンドンで活躍していたH. Davy(デイビー)をはじめとする多くの一線の科学者に衝撃を与えたが，元素の相対的重量(原子量)を決定する原理に不備があったため批判が集中し，一時は原子の存在を仮定しない化学当量を原子量のかわりに用いる傾向が生まれた．その後，原子量確定のための原理的工夫が重ねられ，1860年に開催されたカールスルーエの国際化学者会議でようやく安定した原子量表が得られた．1817年文芸哲学協会会長．1826年ロイヤル・ソサエティ会員．1842年最後の発表論文はオーロラに関するものであった．家庭教師を生業としながら勤勉な実験生活を続け，生涯独身だった．

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