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Rank. First lieutenant. John Nichols Dalton (July 11, 1931 – July 30, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 63rd governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982. Dalton won the office with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Henry E. Howell Jr. and Independent Alan R. Ogden. Dalton had previously served as Lieutenant Governor of ...
- 1954–1956
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Dec 22, 2021 · John Nichols Dalton was born in Emporia, Virginia, on July 11, 1931. The adopted son of , a Republican Party leader, state senator, and gubernatorial nominee, the younger Dalton became immersed in party politics at an early age. In 1953 he graduated from the in and, in 1957, received his law degree from the in . Read more about: John N. Dalton (1931–1986)
- Overview
- Early life and education
- Early scientific career
John Dalton is best known for what became known as Dalton’s law, which posits that the total pressure of a gaseous mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual component gases, partial pressure being the pressure that each gas would exert alone within the volume of the mixture at the same temperature.
Why was John Dalton so influential?
John Dalton based his partial pressures theory on the idea that only like atoms repel one another, whereas unlike atoms appear to react indifferently. This notion was erroneous, but it helped to explain why each gas in a mixture behaved independently, serving the purpose of showing that atoms of all kinds are not alike.
What were John Dalton’s other contributions to chemistry?
John Dalton developed a crude method for measuring the masses of the elements in a compound. His law of multiple proportions states that when two elements form more than one compound, masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the other are in a ratio of small whole numbers.
What were John Dalton’s other scientific contributions beyond chemistry?
Dalton was born into a Quaker family of tradesmen; his grandfather Jonathan Dalton was a shoemaker, and his father, Joseph, was a weaver. Joseph married Deborah Greenup in 1755, herself from a prosperous local Quaker family. Dalton was the youngest of their three offspring who survived to adulthood. He attended John Fletcher’s Quaker grammar school in Eaglesfield. When John was only 12 years old, Fletcher turned the school over to John’s older brother, Jonathan, who called upon the younger Dalton to assist him with teaching. Two years later the brothers purchased a school in Kendal, where they taught approximately 60 students, some of them boarders.
As a teacher, Dalton drew upon the experiences of two important mentors: Elihu Robinson, a Quaker gentleman of some means and scientific tastes in Eaglesfield, and John Gough, a mathematical and classical scholar in Kendal. From these men John acquired the rudiments of mathematics, Greek, and Latin. Robinson and Gough were also amateur meteorologists in the Lake District, and from them Dalton gained practical knowledge in the construction and use of meteorologic instruments as well as instruction in keeping daily weather records. Dalton retained an avid interest in meteorologic measurement for the rest of his life.
In 1793 Dalton moved to Manchester to teach mathematics at a dissenting academy, the New College. He took with him the proof sheets of his first book, a collection of essays on meteorologic topics based on his own observations together with those of his friends John Gough and Peter Crosthwaite. This work, Meteorological Observations and Essays, was published in 1793. It created little stir at first but contained original ideas that, together with Dalton’s more developed articles, marked the transition of meteorology from a topic of general folklore to a serious scientific pursuit.
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Born and reared in England’s mountainous Lake District, Dalton was well placed to observe various meteorologic phenomena. He upheld the view, against contemporary opinion, that the atmosphere was a physical mixture of approximately 80 percent nitrogen and 20 percent oxygen rather than being a specific compound of elements. He measured the capacity of the air to absorb water vapour and the variation of its partial pressure with temperature. He defined partial pressure in terms of a physical law whereby every constituent in a mixture of gases exerted the same pressure it would have if it had been the only gas present. One of Dalton’s contemporaries, the British scientist John Frederic Daniell, later hailed him as the “father of meteorology.”
Soon after his arrival at Manchester, Dalton was elected a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. His first contribution to this society was a description of the defect he had discovered in his own and his brother’s vision. This paper was the first publication on colour blindness, which for some time thereafter was known as Daltonism.
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Home / Public / Dictionary of Virginia Biography / Bio. John Nichols Dalton (11 July 1931–30 July 1986), lieutenant governor and governor of Virginia, was born John Clay Nichols, in Emporia. His parents, Jessie Snow Turner Nichols and her first husband, Luther Clay Nichols, a baker, divorced when he was young.
Apr 2, 2014 · Birth date: September 6, 1766. Birth City: Eaglesfield. Birth Country: United Kingdom. Gender: Male. Best Known For: Chemist John Dalton is credited with pioneering modern atomic theory. He was ...
John Nichols Dalton (July 11, 1931 – July 30, 1986) was an American politician who served as the 63rd governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982. Dalton won the office with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Democrat Henry E. Howell Jr. and Independent Alan R. Ogden. Dalton had previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. [citation needed]
Jul 31, 1986 · Former Gov. John N. Dalton, a popular conservative Republican who led the Virginia Republican Party to dominance in the 1970's, died of lung cancer today at the Medical College of Virginia. He was ...
