Talk:History of atomic theory

This paragraph

• According to Thomson, Dalton's idea first occurred to him when experimenting with "olefiant gas" (ethylene) and "carburetted hydrogen gas" (methane). Dalton found that "carburetted hydrogen gas" contains twice as much hydrogen per measure of carbon as "olefiant gas", and concluded that a molecule of "olefiant gas" is one carbon atom and one hydrogen atom, and a molecule of "carburetted hydrogen gas" is one carbon atom and two hydrogen atoms.^[1] In reality, an ethylene molecule has two carbon atoms and four hydrogen atoms (C₂H₄), and a methane molecule has one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH₄).^{[citation needed]} In this particular case, Dalton was mistaken about the formulas of these compounds, but he got the oxides of tin, iron, and nitrogen correct.^[2]

has issues. THe Millington source claims that Dalton had different recollections from Thomson about of the origin of the idea. Furthermore the Millington source does not verify anything about errors or correct oxides. Page 113 has a quote of Dalton speaking about Proust on the subject of iron and oxygen. Since the origin story is disputed, I think we should use content based on Pullman to discuss Dalton successes and failures in a more generic fashion.

Johnjbarton (talk) 03:33, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

The section on criticism of atomism we read:

• The law of multiple proportions by itself was not complete proof, and atomic theory was not universally accepted until the end of the 19th century.

The source cite is Pullman, pg 199. Nothing appears there but on page 203 Pullman dates universal acceptance to a "full century" after Avogadro's 1811 results. Rather than correct this, I'll remove the sentence as it does not advance the section. Johnjbarton (talk) 01:03, 10 December 2025 (UTC)

In a now-archived post Talk:History_of_atomic_theory/Archive_1#Article_review,_2, @Z1720 suggested that this article needed improvements to maintain its WP:Good Article status. I've done quite a bit of work here to address the most obvious problems. I feel like I could address any issues with the current content quickly now so any reviews would be valuable. Several topics still need to be added then I plan to do a complete read through again but I feel like the GA issues should be resolved first. Johnjbarton (talk) 02:17, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

• @Johnjbarton: I added some citation needed tags; once resolved I will have no further concerns. Please ping me if this gets resolved. Z1720 (talk) 16:18, 17 December 2025 (UTC)

  @Z1720 Thanks! Fixed up some problems, let me know if you find more. Johnjbarton (talk) 03:57, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

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In paragraph 4 of 'Dalton's Chemical Atomism,' the formula of hydrogen peroxide is given as 'H' rather than as 'H₂O₂'. Missingnocchi (talk) 14:54, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

 Done Day Creature (talk) 15:33, 12 January 2026 (UTC)