Mr. Dalton's permanent reputation will rest upon his having discovered a simple principle, universally applicable to the facts of chemistry - in fixing the proportions in which bodies combine, and thus laying the foundation for future labors... his merits in this respect resemble those of Kepler in astronomy.

Six Discourses Delivered Before the Royal Society at Their Anniversary Meetings, on the Award of the Royal and Copley Medals (ed. 1827)