Atom to the positively charged nucleus by the attraction created from opposite electric charges. If an atom has more or fewer electrons than its atomic number, then it becomes respectively negatively or positively charged as a whole; a charged atom is called an ion. Electrons have been known since the late 19th century, mostly thanks to J.J. Thomson; see history of subatomic physics for details. Protons have a positive charge and a mass 1,836 times that of the electron, at . The number of protons in an atom is called its atomic number. Ernest Rutherford (1919) observed that nitrogen under alpha-particle
The History and Adventures of an Atom The History and Adventures of an Atom The History and Adventures of an Atom, by Tobias Smollett, is a novel that savagely satirises English politics during the Seven Years' War. It appears under the guise of a tale from ancient Japan. Pitt the Elder appears as "Taycho", and other politicians, monarchs and nations under a light disguise of made-up names. It includes some comments on Britain's growing problems with its American colonies. The 'atom' is the supposed narrator, a witness to the events and somehow able to communicate them to modern listeners. Smollett is referring back to the ancient Greek