LISTVERSE
Democritus was perhaps the
most successful of the ancient philosophers from a scientific
standpoint, and yet he was largely ignored in the ancient world. We
know that he believed that the whole universe was governed by natural
laws which were understandable and predictable, a very modern view.
Using reason Democritus also predicted the existence of atoms and
vacuums. This was at a time when it was impossible to detect anything
smaller than the eye can see and the idea of nothingness and vacuums
was anathema to most thinkers. His wide ranging studies also took on
the finer points of philosophy, biology, human society, and geometry.
As well as being right on so many matters, even if unacknowledged, he
was also a cheery individual known as the Laughing Philosopher.
WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus
Democritus (Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmokritos, "chosen of the people") (ca. 460 – ca. 370 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece.[1] He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the universe.[2]
His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus, as they are often mentioned together in texts. Their speculation on atoms, taken from Leucippus, bears a passing and partial resemblance to the nineteenth-century understanding of atomic structure that has led some to regard Democritus as more of a scientist than other Greek philosophers; however, their ideas rested on very different bases.[3] Largely ignored in ancient Athens, Democritus was nevertheless well known to his fellow northern-born philosopher Aristotle. Plato is said to have disliked him so much that he wished all his books burned.[1] Many consider Democritus to be the "father of modern science".[4]
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