Law of multiple proportions (chemistry)/Bibliography

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Books discussing Dalton's law of multiple proportions

• Pauling L. (1988) General Chemistry. Edition: 3. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486656225, ISBN 9780486656229.

• Excerpt: The discovery of the law of simple multiple proportions was the first great success of Dalton's atomic theory. This law was not induced from experimental results, but was derived from the theory, and then tested by experiment.
• Excerpt: The Greek philosopher Democritus (about 460-370 B.C.), who had adopted some of his ideas from earlier philosophers, stated that the universe is composed of void (vacuum) and atoms. The atoms were considered to be everlasting and indivisible — absolutely small, so small that their size could not be diminished. He considered the atoms of different substances, such as water and iron, to be fundamentally the same, but to differ in some superficial way; atoms of water, being smooth and round, could roll over one another, whereas atoms of iron, being rough and jagged, would cling together to form a solid body....The atomic theory of Democritus was pure speculation, and was much too general to be useful. Dalton's atomic theory, however, was a hypothesis that explained many facts in a simple and reasonable way.

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