Friday, 15 February 2013

Leucippus

Leucippus...................WIKIPEDIA.......... Leucippus or Leukippos (Greek: Λεύκιππος, first half of 5th century BCE) was one of the earliest Greeks to develop the theory of atomism — the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms — which was elaborated in greater detail by his pupil and successor, Democritus. According to this atomism, if you take a piece of wood and then cut it in to two equal parts, then do it continuously, eventually you will find a part that you can't cut. This smallest possible part is the "atom". A possible earlier candidate for atomism is Mochus of Sidon, from the Trojan War era (13th or 12th century BCE).[1][2][3] He was most likely born in Miletus,[4] although Abdera and Elea are also mentioned as possible birth-places.[5] ................................................................................................... The most famous among Leucippus' lost works was titled Megas Diakosmos (The Big World-System, or Great Cosmology, which was sometimes described as a work of Democritus like the Micros Diakosmos or Little World-System)[9] and Peri Nou (On mind).[10] Fragments and doxographical reports about Leucippus were collected by Hermann Diels (1848–1922), firstly in Doxographi Graeci (Berlin, 1879, reprint Berlin: de Gruyter, 1929) and then in Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Berlin, 1903, 6th ed., rev. by Walther Kranz (Berlin: Weidmann, 1952; the editions after the 6th are mainly reprints with little or no change.)............................................................................................................... One fragment of Leucippus which is probably accurate is the Great Cosmology fragment that says: "The cosmos, then, became like a spherical form in this way: the atoms being submitted to a casual and unpredictable movement, quickly and incessantly." (24, I, .........................................................P.S. It reminds me the BIG BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Atomism (from ancient Greek atomos, meaning "uncuttable") is a natural philosophy that developed in several ancient traditions. The atomists theorized that the natural world consists of two fundamental parts: indivisible atoms and empty void. Atoms are indestructible and immutable and there are an infinite variety of shapes and sizes. They move through the void, bouncing off each other, sometimes becoming hooked with one or more others to form a cluster. Clusters of different shapes, arrangements, and positions give rise to the various macroscopic substances in the world.[1][2]....................................................................... References to the concept of atoms are found in ancient India and ancient Greece. In India the Jain,[3][4] Ajivika and Carvaka schools of atomism may date back to the 6th century BCE.[5] The Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools later developed theories on how atoms combined into more complex objects.[6] In the West, atomism emerged in the 5th century BCE with Leucippus and Democritus.[7] Whether Indian culture influenced Greek or vice versa or whether both evolved independently is a matter of dispute.[8]...........................................................SEE ALSO............ http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaBook/tei/DicHist1.xml;chunk.id=dv1-21.................... Dictionary of the History of Ideas....................................................