Brooklyn College
City University of New York

Science at a Distance

topic

Biological Energy

This Bio-Module requires the use of the text book "Exploring Life" by Professor John Blamire.

The Words of Science

atom

The smallest unit of matter not divisible by chemical means

From two Greek words meaning not, and cutable or divisible
literally...not-divisible. Two Greek thinkers once proposed that all matter on earth was composed of tiny particles that could not be broken down into smaller particles, but could be combined in various ways to make more and more complex matter. Nobody believed them for 2000 years, until a Manchester weather recorder named John Dalton said he could explain the new science of chemistry by proposing that all elements were actually small particles, each with their own properties. He needed a word for these small unbreakable particles, so he used the old Greek work atomos, meaning indivisible.


Words of Science