-
John Dalton
John Dalton brought the idea of the atom back into the mainstream of science. He started the real idea and managed to prove it through experiments and developed some of the first atomic models. -
JJ Thomson
JJ Thomson was the first scientist to prove that atoms were made up of smaller components. His discovery revolutionized the way physics and chemistry would be studied forever in the scientific world, and his models would be widely used for the next few decades. -
Ernest Rutherford
Rutherford was the pioneer of the now famous "Gold Foil Experiment." He took Dalton's plum pudding idea and worked all of the kinks out of it by firing particles at an extremely thin layer of golden foil. Most of them passed through, leading to him discovering that atoms are almost entirely made up of empty or negative space. -
Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr discovered a lot of revolutionary information about the electron. He was the one who discovered that electrons only orbit the nucleus in a fixed pattern or "point" at all times. They don't shift off of their axis ever. He found this by using electrically charged particles and studying their reactions. -
James Chadwick
James Chadwick revolutionized the world of atomic physics and chemistry. He was the one who discovered that there's a third type of particle that makes up an atom. Not only were their protons and electrons, but he discovered the existence of neutrons, a non-charged glue or "filler" particle that held the atoms together.