What did the atomic symbols devised by John Dalton look like?”
Sept. 3, 1803: Dalton Introduces Atomic Symbols 1803: English chemist-physicist John Dalton starts using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements. Dalton, considered the father of modern atomic theory, made a logbook entry that day titled, “Observations on the Ultimate Particles of Bodies and their Combinations.” It was the first use of symbols to represent the elements of modern chemistry. He soon had a table of 21 elements arranged by atomic mass, which he presented in a scientific paper the following month. Eventually, he had 36 different symbols. In his 1805 work, “A New System of Chemical Philosophy,” Dalton propounded the tenets of his atomic theory: The chemical elements are made of atoms. The atoms of an element are identical in mass. Atoms of different elements have different masses. Atoms combine only in small, whole-number ratios like 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, etc. Atoms can not be created or destroyed. Dalton’s symbols were not the ones we use today, but circles containing
