SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



discoveries in experimental physics, all of which 

 were so many little stones in the beautiful mosaic 

 of a monistic conception of the universe. Ever 

 since Franklin had made his experiments with 

 lightning, scientists had studied the atmospheric 

 phenomena and investigated the nature of elec- 

 tricity. Rumford, in 1798, and Davy, in 1799, 

 published the results of their experiments on the 

 nature of heat. Thomas Young established 

 the undulatory theory of ether by explaining the 

 interference of light. And Dalton, who had 

 elaborated his atomic theory in chemistry in 1803 

 and communicated it to Thomas Thompson in 

 1804, published his " New System of Chemical 

 Philosophy " in 1808. 



The fundamental laws, which dominated the 

 physics and chemistry of the iQth century, were 

 thus established. It was not until the beginning 

 of the 2Oth century, that doubts as to the sound- 

 ness of these three theories were expressed and 

 the desire for their reconsideration became strong 

 enough to lead to a greater accuracy in terms 

 and definitions. Dalton made a new departure in 

 chemical methods, and gave rise to two schools. 

 One of them devoted itself to chemistry, the other 

 to physics. The first result of Dalton's methods 

 in chemistry was the practical determination of 



