Gabrielle

Who were the main characters in the development of the atom?
Democritus, John Dalton, J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Henri Bequerel, Niels Bohr

Why were they vital to the development of the atom?
All of these people built off of each others theories discoveries and experiments to piece together the puzzle. Dalton had his atomic theory, Thompson discovered the electron, Rutherford discovered the proton, Chadwick discovered the neutron, Bohr created the Bohr model to display how the parts fit together, and Bequerel added to the final atom with his radioactive discovery.

What made them different if anything
They all had their differences and they all discovered differences. None of them came up with the exact same idea or model they added detail to it or changed something to it. However, they all centered their studies on atoms.

Think about your lessons in history and discuss how the time period that they lived in determined the outcome of their discovery/ or how it influenced those individuals to be the names that we know today (aka did it matter where they grew up or if they had money?)
Democritus-From ancient Greece and therefore grew up around other philosophers and had tutors that influenced him.
Dalton-Grew up in rural England in a poor family and began teaching with his brother for income.
Thomson-went to college and grew up in the city
Rutherford-big family, not rich, went to college
Chadwick-went to college grew up in the city
Bohr-father was a professor, and went to college
Some of them had money and others did not. So this was not such a big issue. However, all of them had some connection to science. Some mentor to fuel their experimental, philosophical, discovering expertise.

nobelprize.org

Why do we consider the atomic theory still a theory? What are the new developments- would love for you to share new sources here about what you find
We still consider it a theory because parts of it are untrue. Atoms are divisible, just not by ordinary chemical means. The new developments to this are J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Henri Bequerel,and Niels Bohr's discoveries.

Why does it matter that we understand the structure of the atom?
Atoms make up everything and the structure of atoms allows you to know many properties. To gain a greater understanding of how things works and continue to make new discoveries it is vital to know the basics.