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Democritus (/ d ɪ ˈ m ɒ k r ɪ t ə s /, dim-OCK-rit-əs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos, meaning "chosen of the people"; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. [2] Democritus wrote extensively on a wide ...
The work of Democritus survives only in secondhand reports, some of which are unreliable or conflicting. Much of the best evidence of Democritus' theory of atomism is reported by Aristotle (384–322 BCE) in his discussions of Democritus' and Plato's contrasting views on the types of indivisibles composing the natural world. [16]
The 20th-century classicist Cyril Bailey proposed another system to differentiate the two philosophers, attributing atomism and belief in the void to Leucippus while attributing The Great Cosmology to Democritus as an application of Leucippus's philosophy. [82] Unlike Democritus, Leucippus is only known to have studied cosmology and physics. [65]
Atomic theory (early) Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) [62] Founder of atomism in cosmology. Atomic theory (modern) Father Roger Boscovich (1711–1787) [63] First coherent description of atomic theory. John Dalton (1766–1844) [64] First scientific description of the atom as a building block for more complex structures. Atomic bomb
6th century BC – Thales of Miletus observes that rubbing fur on various substances, such as amber, would cause an attraction between the two, which is now known to be caused by static electricity. [7] [8] 5th century BC – Leucippus and Democritus postulate the philosophy of atomism. [9]
460–370 BCE – Democritus: Atomism via thought experiment; 384–322 BCE – Aristotle: Aristotelian physics, earliest effective theory of physics [2] c. 300 BCE – Euclid: Euclidean geometry; c. 250 BCE – Archimedes: Archimedes' principle; 310–230 BCE – Aristarchos: Proposed heliocentricism [3]
Atomic theory is one of the most important scientific developments in history, crucial to all the physical sciences. At the start of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman offers the atomic hypothesis as the single most prolific scientific concept. [1]
Epicurus studied in Athens with Nausiphanes, who was a follower of Democritus and a student of Pyrrho of Elis. [72] He accepted Democritus' theory of atomism, with improvements made in response to criticisms by Aristotle and others. [73] His ethics were based on "the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain". [74]