Democritus 400 B.C.
Democritus nationality: Greece
Democritus became an atomic theorists and was discovered around 400 B.C. Democritus was the first to propose the idea that all matter was made up of microscopic indivisible particles called “atomos” (“atomos” means indivisible). Today we call those microscopic indivisible particles atoms. Democritus knew that if he was to cut a stone in half, both half would have the same properties as the whole. He therefore reasoned that if the stone was cut into smaller and smaller pieces, there would be a point where you couldn’t make the stone any smaller (atom). Democritus believed that atoms had different sizes and shapes, were constantly moving, and could collided into other atoms; during collisions, atoms could stick together or rebound. |