Why is the atomic theory important2/5/2024 He modernized the early definitions of matter and formulated a precise definition of the indivisible building blocks that we call atoms. He was an English scientist and school teacher living in the early 1800s. One guy who did not think Democritus was crazy was John Dalton. Democritus' work was not accepted by many of his contemporaries like Plato and Aristotle. We call these collective ideas the Atomic Theory. Democritus' atoms were also infinite in number, always moving and capable of joining together. To Democritus, atoms were small, hard particles that were all made of the same material but were different shapes and sizes. He named this smallest piece of matter atomos, meaning "not to cut." He reasoned that eventually the smallest piece would be obtained. C'mon you know you've tried it.ĭemocritus came to the conclusion that matter could not be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever. He asked himself, "Self? Do you think matter can be divided into smaller and smaller pieces forever? Or is there a limit to the number of times a piece of matter can be divided?" It's kind of like the age old mystery of how many times can you fold a piece of paper. While most of us sit around thinking about pop music, celebrity gossip, or the latest zombie or vampire movie, Democritus focused his thoughts on more serious matters. This is crazy to think about, but over 2,400 years ago Democritus was sitting around Greece thinking about matter, which is anything that has mass and takes up volume. We heart this guy because he's the father of the Atomic Theory. Remember those early philosophers we talked about in the introduction? They're those snazzy thinkers whose curiosity about the world around them created the earliest ideas of science.
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