Atomic Modeling in the Early 20th Century: 1904 - 1913

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to discuss the major works that appeared in the period of 1904 to 1913: atomic models proposed by Thomson and Hantaro Nagaoka (1904), Rutherford (1911), and Bohr (1913), and the experimental work that motivated them. It will be seen that, although all of the models discussed here were later shown to be incorrect or incomplete, each one represented an essential step towards an understanding of the nature of matter, a view of the physical world often taken for granted a century down the road.

Presented at the 24th Regional Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science, Boulder, CO (10/12/08). This paper has been withdrawn because subsequent research has indicated that several points in this text required significant clarification. It is superseded with a greatly expanded version by the same author, also available on arXiv