= Isomers suggest that atoms exist
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{title2=1874}
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<Subtle is the Lord by Abraham Pais (1982)> page 85:
\Q[However, it became increasingly difficult in chemical circles to deny the reality of molecules after 1874, the year in which Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff and Joseph Achille Le Bel independently explained the <isomerism> of certain organic substances in terms of <stereochemical> properties of carbon compounds.]
so it is quite cool to see that <organic chemistry> is one of the things that pushed atomic theory forward. Because when you start to observe that <isomers> has different characteristics, despite identical proportions of atoms, this is really hard to explain without talking about the relative positions of the atoms within molecules!
TODO: is there anything even more precise that points to atoms in stereoisomers besides just the "two isomers with different properties" thing?