Walter Charleton (1620 - 1707) e sua Teoria Atômica

Abstract

Recebido em 2/7/96; aceito em 29/8/96 THE ATOMIC THEORY OF WALTER CHARLETON (1620-1707). Several authors in the 17th century used the atomic hypothesis to explain observable phenomena. This paper analyzes some ideas about chemical transformation proposed by the English physician Walter Charleton. In Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charltoniana (London, 1654), Charleton examined philosophical aspects of the atomic theory, and suggested that the best explanation for all natural phenomena would be only in terms of atoms and their motions. Sometimes, however, he had to attribute to the atoms some kind of "internal virtue", to explain more complex properties of the matter. His idea of "element", and the little use of experimentation and quantification, also limited the range of Charleton's theory.