--- title: "When and who invented the Molecular Hypothesis?" description: "When and who invented the Molecular Hypothesis?" author: "Cox elliott" published: 2018-08-30 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49245/when-and-who-invented-the-molecular-hypothesis category: "innovation, discovery and technology" tags: ["innovation, discovery and technology"] reading_time: 3 minutes --- # When and who invented the Molecular Hypothesis? When and who invented the Molecular Hypothesis?\ \ \ ## Answers ### Answer by Harshal Vispute The **history of molecular theory** in **[chemistry](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/39558/how-many-neutrons-does-a-standard-hydrogen-atom-have-in-its-nucleus)** tracks the origins of the concept or idea that two or more atoms might form strong **chemical interactions**. \ Pre-scientific ancient **Greek philosophers** such as **Leucippus** and **Democritus** theorized that the **cosmos** is made up of **atoms** and **voids**, which gave rise to the current concept of **molecules**. Around **450 BC, Empedocles** envisaged basic elements like **fire, earth, air, and water**, as well as **forces of attraction and repulsion** that allowed the elements to interact. \ **Heraclitus** had previously asserted that fire, or change, was vital to our existence and that it was formed by combining opposing characteristics. The essential building block of the heavenly bodies was thought to be a fifth element, the incorruptible quintessence aether. Aristotle embraced **Leucippus**' and **Empedocles**' viewpoints, as well as the aether, and passed them down to **medieval** and **Renaissance Europe**. \ In the **19th century**, scientific data for pure chemical components and how individual atoms of distinct chemical elements, such as **[hydrogen](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/39558/how-many-neutrons-does-a-standard-hydrogen-atom-have-in-its-nucleus)** and **[oxygen](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49173/who-discover-oxygen)**, can unite to form chemically inert molecules, such as molecules of water, began to emerge. \ **Leucippus**, **Democritus**, and **Epicurus** provided the first theories on the forms and connectedness of atoms, reasoning that the solidity of the substance matched the shape of the atoms involved. \ The concept of aggregates or units of connected atoms may be traced back to **Robert Boyle's 1661 hypothesis**, published in his classic work The **Sceptical Chymist**, that matter is made up of clusters of particles and that chemical change is caused by cluster rearrangement. **Boyle** proposed that matter's fundamental ingredients were various types and sizes of particles known as 'corpuscles,' which could self-organize into groupings. \ Based on the **corpuscular theory, Nicolas Lemery, a [French](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/62143/who-won-the-men-s-singles-in-2019-french-open-tennis-recently) scientist,** stated in **1680** that the acidity of any substance was defined by its pointed particles, whereas **alkalis** were endowed with pores of variable widths. According to this theory, a molecule is made up of corpuscles connected by a geometric arrangement of points and pores. \ **Jean Perrin**, a **[French](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/62143/who-won-the-men-s-singles-in-2019-french-open-tennis-recently) physicist**, was awarded the **Nobel Prize** in **Physics** in **1926** for convincingly confirming the existence of molecules. He achieved it by employing three separate ways to calculate **Avogadro's number**, all of which included liquid phase systems. \ **K.L. Wolf**, a **chemist**, used the term '**supermolecules**' to explain hydrogen bonding in **acetic acid** dimers in **1937**. This would lead to the field of **supermolecular** chemistry in the long run. \ Erwin Wilhelm Müller, a physicist, develops the field ion microscope in 1951 and is the first to view atoms, such as bound atomic groupings at the tip of a metal point. --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49245/when-and-who-invented-the-molecular-hypothesis Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.