A New System of Chemical Philosophy

DALTON, John

Published by S. Russell for R. Bickerstaff; Russell & Allen for R. Bickerstaff; Executives of S. Russell for G. Wilson, Manchester, 1827

About this Item

THE ATOMIC THEORY OF MATTER (PMM 261). First edition, untouched in uniform original publisher's bindings with original printed spine labels, of Dalton's classic work on the atomic theory of matter. "Dalton reconstructed Newton's speculations on the structure of matter, and, applying them in a new form to chemistry, gave Lavoisier's reformation of that science a deeper significance" (PMM). "Dalton's chemical atomic theory was the first to give significance to the relative weights of the ultimate particles of all known compounds, and to provide a quantitative explanation of the phenomena of chemical reaction. Dalton believed that all matter was composed of indestructible and indivisible atoms of various weights, each weight corresponding to one of the chemical elements, and that these atoms remained unchanged during chemical processes. Dalton's work with relative atomic weights prompted him to construct the first periodic table of the elements (in Vol. I, pt. 1), to formulate laws concerning their combination and to provide schematic representations of various possible combinations of atoms. His equation of the concepts "atom" and "chemical element" was of fundamental importance, as it provided the chemist with a new and enormously fruitful model of reality" (Norman). "He developed a system of chemical symbols and a table [plate 4 in part 1] showing the relative weights of the atoms of a list of elements. From his principles he deduced the law of definite proportions and the law of multiple proportions" (Dibner). This, and pp. 546-548 along with the 4 plates in part 2, in effect describe the first periodic table, which Mendeleev was to refine later. "In 1808 John Dalton published A New System of Chemical Philosophy, which described principles such as the uniqueness of atoms of the same element, relative atomic masses, and the rules of chemical combination, which taken together comprise the tablets of modern chemistry. The adoption of molecular formulas based on the laws of definite and multiple proportions, and the assignment of relative atomic masses, placed the science on a new quantitative footing" (Grossman, p. 339). This set is complete with the two parts of Vol. I and Vol. II, Part I (no further parts were published). Only one complete copy in uniform publisher's bindings has appeared since Norman, but that copy was made up with varying provenances, one part being ex-library. The Norman copy itself was in non-uniform bindings without the printed paper spine labels. Dalton (1766-1844) was born of a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, a small village in the English Lake District. As a young boy, he worked in the fields with his older brother, and helped his father in the shop where they wove cloth. In 1776, when only ten years old, he entered the service of Elihu Robinson, a wealthy Quaker, who taught him mathematics. In 1781, after a brief period of teaching in the village school, he joined his brother who was a master at a school in Kendal. In 1793 he moved to Manchester and, in the same year, published Meteorological Observations in which he suggested that the processes of evaporation and condensation were not chemical changes of state but rather changes in the physical form of water. These ideas laid the foundations for his theory that all matter is composed of discrete 'atoms'. At first after he moved to Manchester he taught mathematics and natural philosophy at New College, and began observing the behavior of gases, but after six years he resigned. Thereafter he devoted his life to research, which he financed by giving private tuition. By 1800, Dalton had become the secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (LPS), and in 1805 he presented a series of papers to the society outlining key points about the behaviour of gases in his series of essays, "Experimental Essays on the Constitution of Mixed Gases". He proposed that particles of an elastic fluid or gas were in fact elastic only with particles of their. Seller Inventory # 5935

Bibliographic Details

Title: A New System of Chemical Philosophy

Publisher: S. Russell for R. Bickerstaff; Russell & Allen for R. Bickerstaff; Executives of S. Russell for G. Wilson, Manchester

Publication Date: 1827

Edition: First edition, first issue.