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Atomic Theory 500 B.C. - 1600

Atomic Theory 500 B.C. - 1600. Empedocles 490?- 430? B. C. He maintained that matter consisted of four substances. Those four were to be the elements: earth, fire, water, and air. Leukippos About the 5-th century B. C.

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Atomic Theory 500 B.C. - 1600

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  1. Atomic Theory500 B.C. - 1600

  2. Empedocles 490?- 430? B. C.

  3. He maintained that matter consisted of four substances. Those four were to be the elements: earth, fire, water, and air.

  4. LeukipposAbout the 5-th century B. C. He asserted that world consisted of indivisible particles of matter. They should have geometrical shapes and were called 'schematones'. He said that they had definite place in space. He laid the foundations of the theory later explained and developed by Democritus.

  5. DEMOCRITUS (ca. 460 to 371 BC)

  6. Less well known to us today than Socrates, Plato or Aristotle is Democritus (mid-late 400s: a contemporary of Socrates).  In his own day he was widely recognized as a brilliant thinker who brought to the ancient Greek world the atomic theory of the cosmos.  Basically his view was that all life is merely the composite structure of invisibly minute particles of hard matter: atoms.  These atoms (eternal in their being) are structured into the more visible material we observe in our world--through laws of motion (also eternal in their existence).

  7. He believed that the real properties of atoms determine the perceived properties of matter--for example, something that tastes sharp is made of small, pointy atoms, while something sweet is made of large, round atoms; the interactions of those atoms with the atoms of the tongue give the impression of taste.

  8. Epicurus342- 270 B. C. Reality is nothing more than physical interactions among minute indestructable particles or atoms. He stated that as the particles fall towards the center of the earth, they swerve from their paths and collide with each other and form temporary compound beings.

  9. Aristotle384- 322 B. C. He was a resolved opponent of Democritus's atomistics. He stated that world couldn't consist of small, indivisible particles because if so they should fall down like a thrown up rock did. He was of the opinion that there were four basic qualities determining the constitution of substance. Those four were to be : dryness, wetness, heat and cold. For example, fire consisted of heat and dryness; water consisted of cold and wetness. The conversion of water into steam he explained in that way : The heat of fire joins the wetness of water creating air and earth (the last one can be found at the bottom of the pot after vaporizing the water ). Those qualities were abstract. The vision created by him buried Democritus's theories for many centuries.

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