“When we attempt to conceive the number of particles in an atmosphere, it is somewhat like attempting to conceive the number of stars in the universe; we are confounded with the thought. But if we limit the subject, by taking a given volume of any gas, we seem persuaded that, let the divisions be ever so minute, the number of particles must be finite; just as in a given space of the universe, the number of stars and planets cannot be infinite.”

— John Dalton, book A New System of Chemical Philosophy

Source: A New System of Chemical Philosophy (1808), Ch. III On Chemical Synthesis

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John Dalton6

English chemist, meteorologist and physicist 1766–1844

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