MadSci Network: Science History |
M.B.,
All of the scientists which you listed in your question did help to
discover the atom or explain what it is used for. Here's a timeline of
events; it is very basic, though, so you might want to look for more
information for your website.
450 B.C.E. - Democritus suggests that atoms make up everything, and that
they can combine to form any object which we know.
1803 A.D. - John Dalton expands on Democritus's idea, showing how atoms
allow for simple reaction ratios. Each atom could group up and form a
compound with other atoms.
--The events after Dalton's proposal helped to clarify what exactly an
atom was.--
1897 - J.J. Thomson discovers the electron, thereby showing that atoms
can be broken down into different parts.
1909 - Ernest Rutherford and 1913 - Niels Bohr : The work of both of
these men showed that electrons were slightly bound to an atom.
1924 - Erwin Schrodinger helps to prove the Exclusion Principle - where
it is impossible to know the location of an electron if one knows its
spin, and vice versa. This gave rise to the electron cloud model of the
atom.
So there you have it! Remember, this is still only a very basic timeline,
so you should do some more research on your own.
Note: I used this
website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom).
--A.B.
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Science History.