Leucippus is reported in some ancient sources to have been a philosopher who was the earliest Greek to develop the theory of atomism—the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. Leucippus often appears as the master to his pu…
and Democritus maintain the existence of atoms and the void in part because, thanks to notions of atoms and the void, philosophers are able to explain, or give a rational account (logos) of, the observable world-order (kosmos), of how things come into being and pass away.
Democritus wondered, for example, what would happen if you cut a chunk of matter—such as a piece of cheese into smaller and smaller pieces. He thought that a point would be reached at which the cheese could not be cut into still smaller pieces. He called these pieces atomos, which means “uncuttable” in Greek.Nov 8, 2018
More than two millennia before this, Democritus’ atomic theory argued from deduction and observation rather than experiment that: Everything is made of atoms. Atoms are the smallest particles of matter – too small for us to see, although larger ones could exist. Atoms have existed forever.
What did Democritus say about the nature of matter?
Democritus thought that different kinds of matter vary because of the size, shape, and arrangement of their atoms. For example, he suggested that sweet substances are made of smooth atoms and bitter substances are made of sharp atoms.
Who is Democritus and what did he discover?
Democritus is one of the most influential people in the chemistry. He was the first person who discovered the theory of atom. We know his discovery as Democritus theory of atoms. This theory is one of the most important theory in the atomic theory and organic chemistry in general.
What did Democritus believe about space?
Democritus’s physical and cosmological doctrines were an elaborated and systematized version of those of his teacher, Leucippus. To account for the world’s changing physical phenomena, Democritus asserted that space, or the Void, had an equal right with reality, or Being, to be considered existent.
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Who was Democritus?
Democritus was an ancient Greek philosopher. He and his mentor, Leucippus, are widely regarded as the first atomists in the Grecian tradition. Alth...
What is Democritus known for?
Democritus was a central figure in the development of the atomic theory of the universe. He theorized that all material bodies are made up of indiv...
When was Democritus born, and when did he die?
Relatively little is known about the life and death of Democritus. According to most reports, Democritus was born circa 460 BCE and died some 90 ye...
Is “democracy” named for Democritus?
No. Despite its phonetic similarity to Democritus, democracy is not named for Democritus. The word democracy is actually derived from the Greek dēm...
Democritus The Scientist and Philosopher
Democritus was born in Abdera, Thrace possibly around 460 BC. His philosophies and scientific rationale are only known from fragments of Democritus' writing and his mention in the writings of other philosophers of his time such as Plato and Aristotle. According to ancient sources, Democritus followed the atomist philoso…
Though it is common knowledge in the modern world that matter and material things are all composed of fundamental particles, it was not the leading theory that explained or described existence before and during Democritus' time. Two other competing theories in Ancient Greece were that of the philosopher Heraclitus and that of Parmenides. Scholars of Greek philosophy ei…
Democritus' and Leucippus' atomic theories emerged out of both of the Parmenides' and Heraclitus' pre-Socratic philosophies. Atomism combined aspects of both theories, taking from Heraclitus that all things are changing and the void does exist and taking from Parmenides that all things are the same one thing. However, instead of imaging all things ...
23 hours ago
· Atoms could move in the empty space or void. He stated that atoms can join to each other and then they will construct the object which can we see. This object can be destroyed if we separate the atoms away. Even though this Democritus theory of atoms is the …
31 hours ago
· Democritus thought that atoms are tiny, uncuttable, solid particles that are surrounded by empty space and constantly moving at random. Democritus surmised that …
21 hours ago
· Democritus was one of the first determinists, arguing that a world made only of atoms and controlled by the laws of physics left no room for free will.
34 hours ago
· Democritus was a central figure in the development of the atomic theory of the universe. He theorized that all material bodies are made up of indivisibly small “atoms.” …
21 hours ago
One of these philosophers was Democritus (c. 460–370 BCE), often referred to as the “laughing philosopher” because of his emphasis on cheerfulness. He taught that there were substances …
34 hours ago
· Democritus got the word atom from his mentor Leucippus. The word atom is Greek for indivisible. He said that all matter was made up of these atoms which were indivisible and …
36 hours ago
· Democritus' only belief about atoms was that they were one of the possibilities when debating the structure of matter. The Ancient Greeks loved to debate things, with a very …
8.Democritus - Biography, Facts and Pictures - Famous Scientists
Url:https://www.famousscientists.org/democritus/
2 hours ago
Lived c. 460 — c. 370 BC. Democritus, the laughing philosopher, had ideas far in advance of his time. He is famous for his atomic theory featuring tiny particles always in motion interacting …
28 hours ago
· Democritus, believed there was a vacuum or void and that all material things were composed of combinations of a few kinds of atoms. The atom’s natural motion was down …
