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Atomic theory   /ətˈɑmɪk θˈɪri/   Listen
noun
Theory  n.  (pl. theories)  
1.
A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation. Note: "This word is employed by English writers in a very loose and improper sense. It is with them usually convertible into hypothesis, and hypothesis is commonly used as another term for conjecture. The terms theory and theoretical are properly used in opposition to the terms practice and practical. In this sense, they were exclusively employed by the ancients; and in this sense, they are almost exclusively employed by the Continental philosophers."
2.
An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
3.
The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
4.
The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
Atomic theory, Binary theory, etc. See under Atomic, Binary, etc.
Synonyms: Hypothesis, speculation. Theory, Hypothesis. A theory is a scheme of the relations subsisting between the parts of a systematic whole; an hypothesis is a tentative conjecture respecting a cause of phenomena.



adjective
Atomical, Atomic  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to atoms.
2.
Extremely minute; tiny.
Atomic bomb, see atom bomb in the vocabulary.
Atomic philosophy, or Doctrine of atoms, a system which, assuming that atoms are endued with gravity and motion, accounted thus for the origin and formation of all things. This philosophy was first broached by Leucippus, was developed by Democritus, and afterward improved by Epicurus, and hence is sometimes denominated the Epicurean philosophy.
Atomic theory, or the Doctrine of definite proportions (Chem.), teaches that chemical combinations take place between the supposed ultimate particles or atoms of bodies, in some simple ratio, as of one to one, two to three, or some other, always expressible in whole numbers.
Atomic weight (Chem.), the weight of the atom of an element as compared with the weight of the atom of hydrogen, taken as a standard.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Atomic theory" Quotes from Famous Books



... What is the happiness of your life made up of? Little courtesies, little kindnesses, pleasant words, genial smiles, a friendly letter, good wishes, and good deeds. One in a million—once in a lifetime—may do a heroic action. The atomic theory is the true one. Many think common fractions vulgar, but they are the components ...
— Architects of Fate - or, Steps to Success and Power • Orison Swett Marden

... authoritative definitions by Mr. McLennan and Mr. Frazer. He assails the theory of fetishism as if it stood now where De Brosses left it in a purely pioneer work—or, rather, where he understands De Brosses to have left it. One might as well attack the atomic theory where Lucretius left it, or the theory of evolution where it was ...
— Modern Mythology • Andrew Lang

... voluminous labors in chemistry to study electrical science with the result that his measurements in galvanism are classic to this day. His philosophical work was more than considerable. "A book on the atomic theory, classic also; four elaborate mathematical and experimental volumes on what he called psychophysics (many persons consider Fechner to have practically founded scientific psychology in the first of these books); a volume on organic evolution, and two works ...
— The Centaur • Algernon Blackwood

... of scholastic philosophy, conceiving of them as primitive forces, constituting the substance of matter, atoms of substance, but not of matter imperishable, but subject to transformation. This view of the atomic theory is two-fold: First, the atomic invisible, as the very term atom indicates, for it is from "ha temno," which means not cut—literally indivisible. You can't cut an atom chemically or otherwise, unless you are working upon that which is an atom in the loose and ...
— The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, Volume I, No. 12, December, 1880 • Various

... The atomic theory teaches that the world is produced by the successive formation of compounds, binary, ternary, and so on, due to the aggregation of atoms—such aggregation resulting from the motion of the atoms. The primary motion of the atoms—which are the cause ...
— The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja - Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48 • Trans. George Thibaut

... little, if anything; but from a theoretical point of view, the tone of his writings is singularly modern. His work was mostly done before Dalton had announced the atomic theory; and yet Smithson saw clearly that a law of definite proportions must exist, although he did not attempt to account for it. His ability as a reasoner is best shown in his paper on the Kirkdale Bone Cave, which ...
— Something of Men I Have Known - With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective • Adlai E. Stevenson

... the writings of the founders of the atomic theory have come to us. The views of these philosophers are preserved, and doubtless amplified and modified, in a Latin poem, Concerning the Nature of Things, written by Lucretius, who was born a century before the ...
— The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry • M. M. Pattison Muir

... therefore, subject to the production of proof that physiological species may be produced by selective breeding; just as a physical philosopher may accept the undulatory theory of light, subject to the proof of the existence of the hypothetical ether; or as the chemist adopts the atomic theory, subject to the proof of the existence of atoms; and for exactly the same reasons, namely, that it has an immense amount of prima facie probability: that it is the only means at present within reach of reducing the chaos of observed facts to order; and lastly, ...
— On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals • Thomas H. Huxley



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