How can you see an atom? (video)

Bestselling author Sam Kean takes us through the nearly 2,400-year quest to see the atom in a new episode of our "Legends of Chemistry" series.

, --April 9, 2015

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Since ancient Greek times, philosophers and scientists have tried to figure out what an atom looks like. For a couple thousand years, humans could only speculate on the structure and other properties of the smallest unit of matter. It wasn't until the 1980s that chemists could see individual atoms. Bestselling author Sam Kean takes us through the nearly 2,400-year quest to see the atom in a new episode of our "Legends of Chemistry" series.

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American Chemical Society——

American Chemical Society, ACS is a congressionally chartered independent membership organization which represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry.