Philosopher · Classical antiquity · Greece

Democritus

c. 460–c. 370 BC

Greek thinker from Abdera who worked out the first full atomic theory: all things are made of indivisible atoms moving in empty void. He lived about 460 to 370 BC. His many books are lost; the theory survives through later reports and Epicurus.

Facts

Born: About 460 BC, Abdera, Greece.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Democritus
Died: About 370 BC.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Democritus
School: Atomism, developed from his teacher Leucippus.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Democritus
Known for: Atoms and the void as the explanation of all change, and an ethics of cheerfulness.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Democritus

Images

Bust identified as Democritus, Pushkin Museum (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA)

Connected

CountryGreece1830–PhilosopherEpicurus341–270 BC

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