atomic theory
/əˌtɒmɪk ˈθɪəri
/noun [mass noun]
1The theory that all matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles (atoms). According to modern interpretations of the theory, the atoms of each element are effectively identical, but differ from those of other elements, and unite to form compounds in fixed proportions.And while modern science has progressed far beyond classical atomic theory, it nevertheless continues to understand the world in terms of the discrete....
- In the seventeenth century, as scientists and philosophers started turning to empirical research in order test their theories, atomists approached atomic theory as a key to nature's secret.
- In the early days of modern atomic theory, the idea of diatomic molecules seemed counter-intuitive.
1.1 [count noun] A theory in any field which proposes the existence of distinct, separable, independent components: an atomic theory of heredity...
- The two chief causes of anxiety were fear of the gods and fear of death, so Epicurus sought to nullify both of these by teaching an evolutionary atomic theory.
- During the year of 1801, Dalton addressed an atomic theory of how air was not a complex substance but it was a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen.
- Kant, a believer in an atomic theory of the exterior world, nonetheless came to believe that we could have no direct and certain knowledge of that world.