John Dalton

27 Oct, 2016 540 Chemistry

The scientist John Dalton was born in North England in 1766. Although he came from a relatively poor Quaker family, he managed to become one of the most celebrated scientists of his age. Through his work, he helped to establish Manchester as a place where not only products were made but ideas were born. His reputation during his lifetime was so high that unusually a statue was erected to him before he died. Among his interests were meteorology, gasses and colour blindness. However, he is most remembered today for his pioneering thinking in the field of atomic theory.

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Guests

  • Jim Bennett 11 episodes
    Former Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford and Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum
  • Aileen Fyfe No other episodes
    Reader in British History at the University of St Andrews
  • James Sumner No other episodes
    Lecturer in the History of Technology at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester

Reading list

  • The Fontana History of Chemistry
    William H. Brock (Fontana Press, 2008) Google Books →
  • Quakers, Jews, and Science: Religious Responses to Modernity and the Sciences in Britain, 1650-1900
    Geoffrey Cantor (Oxford University Press, 2005) Google Books →
  • Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820
    Jan Golinski (Cambridge University Press, 1992) Google Books →
  • John Dalton and the Atom
    Frank Greenaway (Heinemann, 1966) Google Books →
  • The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
    Richard Holmes (HarperPress, 2009) Google Books →
  • Manchester: Making the Modern City
    Alan Kidd and Terry Wyke (eds.) (Liverpool University Press, 2016) Google Books →
  • The Dalton Tradition
    Diana Leitch and Alfred Williamson (John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1991)
  • John Dalton and the Atomic Theory: The Biography of a Natural Philosopher
    Elizabeth C. Patterson (Anchor, 1970) Google Books →
  • John Dalton, 1766-1844: A Bibliography of Works By and About Him
    Albert L. Smyth (Ashgate, 1997) Google Books →
  • John Dalton: Critical Assessments of His Life and Science
    Arnold Thackray (Harvard University Press, 1972) Google Books →
  • Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World
    Jenny Uglow (Faber and Faber, 2002) Google Books →

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Programme ID: b07zzy8b

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07zzy8b

Auto-category: 540 (Chemistry and allied sciences)

Hello (First sentence from this episode) Hello, in 1766 John Dalton was born in Cumberland.