Natural philosopher — Democritus (Abdera, c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a pupil of Leucippus and the chief exponent of atomism. According to his doctrine, reality is made up of atoms, indivisible and eternal particles, which move in the void and whose combinations give rise to all bodies and phenomena. With this idea Democritus proposed a purely materialistic and mechanical explanation of nature, without recourse to divine intervention. Although a philosophical insight rather than an experimental theory, ancient atomism anticipated the modern atomic conception of matter by more than two millennia. His works have almost all been lost, and we know him chiefly through the testimony of other authors.
Fun fact
He was nicknamed ‘the laughing philosopher’ for his serene, ironic attitude towards human weaknesses, in contrast to the melancholic Heraclitus, ‘the weeping philosopher’.
Theories and contributions
- Atomism — Everything is made up of indivisible atoms moving in the void; their combinations generate bodies.
Featured in chapters
Linked atoms
2 linked atoms.