The origin and development of the atomic theory by Maynard Shipley
QR code
The origin and development of the atomic theory by Maynard Shipley is a scientific publication and historical account written in the early 20th century. The book concisely traces how ideas about atoms arose, changed, and matured—from ancient philosophical speculations to modern scientific theories—showing how the concept of matter’s discreteness evolved into the foundation of chemistry and physics. Shipley begins with the Pythagoreans, Philolaus, and related ideas from India, highlighting number, geometry, and
the five regular solids as early ways to picture particles. He then presents Leucippus and Democritus: atoms and void, causal necessity, subjective sense qualities, and the role of shape, size, and arrangement; along the way he contrasts them with the Eleatics’ denial of motion and Anaxagoras’ “seeds.” The narrative turns to Epicurus and Lucretius, covering equal falling speeds in the void, the swerve debate, many worlds, and a polemic against superstition and divine design. Democritus’ “soul atoms,” effluences, and theories of color and taste are explained alongside Aristotle’s critiques. The closing chapter follows post-classical atomism through Descartes and Gassendi to Dalton’s laws of definite and multiple proportions, clarifying early errors about formulas, and connects these to modern insights—electrons, nuclei, isotopes, and atomic number—showing how an ancient idea became the quantitative science of matter. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
Kobo, Nook etc → Transfer via USB
Phone, tablet or computer → Open in a reading app
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Shipley, Maynard, 1872-1934 |
|---|---|
| Editor | Haldeman-Julius, E. (Emanuel), 1888-1951 |
| LoC No. | ca26000051 |
| Title | The origin and development of the atomic theory |
| Original Publication | Girard: Haldeman-Julius Company, 1924. |
| Series Title | Little blue books series no. 608 |
| Contents | The Pythagorean atomists -- The materialistic atomists: Leucippus and Democritus -- The Eleatic view -- Epicurus and Lucretius -- Post-classical atomism. |
| Credits | Tim Miller, Laura Natal and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | QD: Science: Chemistry |
| Subject | Atomic theory |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 76795 |
| Release Date | Sep 2, 2025 |
| Last Update | Dec 27, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 408 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!