This document provides an overview of the historical development of atomic theory. It discusses early Indian philosophers like Maharishi Kanad and Pakudha Katyayama who postulated that matter is made of small particles. Later, Greek philosophers Democritus and Leucippus suggested the idea of atoms as indivisible particles. Antoine Lavoisier established the laws of conservation of mass and constant proportions through experiments. John Dalton provided further explanation through his atomic theory, stating that all matter is made of atoms that combine in whole number ratios to form compounds.