Rudjer J. Bošković (1711-1787), who predates Dalton, could be considered the father of modern atomic physics. See his works here, especially his A Theory of Natural Philosophy.
I mention Bošković (also spelled Boscovich) because he was after Newton (and his corpuscles) and before Faraday, who introduced the field concept and said in 1844 that
the safest course appears to be to assume as little as possible, and that is why the atoms of Boscovich appear to me to have a great advantage over the more usual notion,and Maxwell, who said in 1877 that
the best thing we can do is to get rid of the rigid nucleus and substitute an atom of Boscovich.Kelvin wrote in 1899:
Hooke’s exhibition of the forms of crystals by piles of globes, Navier’s and Poisson’s theory of the elasticity of solids, Maxwell’s and Clausius’ work in the kinetic theory of gases…all developments of Boscovich’s theory pure and simple.Kelvin wrote in 1905:
My present assumption is Boscovichianism pure and simple.
(See: Roger Joseph Boscovich by Whyte.)