Natural philosopher — Leucippus was a Greek philosopher who lived in the 5th century BC, about whom little is known, and partly legendary, possibly from Miletus or Abdera. He is traditionally regarded as the founder of atomism, the doctrine according to which reality is composed of indivisible particles, atoms, moving in the void. He was the teacher of Democritus, who developed and widely spread this theory, to the point that it is often hard to distinguish one’s contribution from the other’s. The idea that matter is made of indivisible elementary components anticipated modern atomic theory by more than two millennia.
Trivia
Leucippus’s very existence was already doubted in antiquity: Epicurus is said to have claimed “there never was a philosopher Leucippus”, but most historians accept his historicity.
Theories and contributions
- Atomism — Matter is made of indivisible atoms moving in the void; their combinations generate all bodies.
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Linked atoms
1 linked atoms.