His teacher Leucippus had proposed an atomic system, as had Anaxagoras of Clazomenae.

Ĭertainly Democritus was not the first to propose an atomic theory. This work of Epicurus is preserved by Diogenes Laertius in his second century AD book. The second source is in the work of Epicurus but, in contrast to Aristotle, Epicurus is a strong believer in Democritus's atomic theory. Firstly Aristotle discusses Democritus's ideas thoroughly because he strongly disagreed with his ideas of atomism. There are two main sources for our knowledge of his of physical and philosophical theories. there was no subject to which he did not notably contribute, from mathematics and physics on the one hand to ethics and poetics on the other he even went by the name of 'wisdom'.Īlthough little is known of his life, quite a lot is known of his physics and philosophy. Certainly he was a man of great learning. His travels certainly took him to Egypt and Persia, as Russell suggests, but he almost certainly also travelled to Babylon, and some claim he travelled to India and Ethiopia. Of all my contemporaries I have covered the most ground in my travels, making the most exhaustive inquiries the while I have seen the most climates and countries and listened to the greatest number of learned men. He then returned to Abdera, where he remained.ĭemocritus himself wrote (but some historians dispute that the quote is authentic ) (see ):. He travelled widely in southern and eastern lands in search of knowledge, he perhaps spent a considerable time in Egypt, and he certainly visited Persia. How different he would find the trip today, where the main approach to the city from the northeast runs past the impressive 'Democritus Nuclear Research Laboratory'.Ĭertainly Democritus made many journeys other than the one to Athens. He said, according to Diogenes Laertius writing in the second century AD :-ĭemocritus was disappointed by his trip to Athens because Anaxagoras, then an old man, had refused to see him. Very little is known of his life but we know that Leucippus was his teacher.ĭemocritus certainly visited Athens when he was a young man, principally to visit Anaxagoras, but Democritus complained how little he was known there. Biography Democritus of Abdera is best known for his atomic theory but he was also an excellent geometer.

Democritus atomic theory date