John Dalton was born on September 6, 1766 into a Quaker family in Eagles field in Cumberland, England and died on July 27, 1844.
Dalton's interest in atmospheric pressures eventually led him to a closer examination of gases. While studying the nature and chemical makeup of air in the early 1800s, Dalton learned that it was not a chemical solvent, as other scientists had believed. Instead it was a mechanical system composed of small individual particles that used pressure applied by each gas independently.