John Dalton - Biography

Chemist John Dalton was born on September 6 , 1766, in Eaglesfield, England. During his early career, In 1803 he revealed the concept of Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures,he identified the hereditary nature of red-green color blindness. . Also in the 1800's, he was the first scientist to explain the behavior of atoms in terms of the measurement of weight. Dalton died on July 26, 1844 in Manchester, England.

After attending a Quaker school in his village in Cumberland, He Started teaching there when he was jut 12 years.at the age of 14 he worked as a farmhand.Within a period of 14 years he became the principal of the Quaker School. He remained there until 1793, at which time he became a math and philosophy tutor at the New College in Manchester.

While at New College, Dalton joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Membership granted Dalton access to laboratory facilities. For one of his first research projects, Dalton pursued his avid interest in meteorology. He started keeping daily logs of the weather, paying special attention to details such as wind velocity and barometric pressure—a habit Dalton would continue all of his life. His research findings on atmospheric pressure were published in his first book, Meteorological Findings, the year he arrived in Manchester.

During his early career as a scientist, Dalton also researched color blindness—a topic with which he was familiar through firsthand experience. Since the condition had affected both him and his brother since birth, Dalton theorized that it must be hereditary. He proved his theory to be true when genetic analysis of his own eye tissue revealed that he was missing the photoreceptor for perceiving the color green. As a result of his contributions to the understanding of red-green color blindness, the condition is still often referred to as "Daltonism."

Following are the invention's of John Dalton:

Atomic Theory-Click here to read more

Dalton's Law   -Click here to read more