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What is the history of the atom?
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The history of the atom begins with ancient Greek philosophers, who believed that everything was composed of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. In the early 1800s, John Dalton proposed that these four elements could be combined to form compounds. This idea was later supported by Antoine Lavoisier, who discovered that chemical reactions were caused by the rearrangement of atoms. In 1896, Ernest Rutherford discovered that atoms had a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons. Later in the 20th century, scientists learned about subatomic particles such as electrons and neutrinos.