Democritus [Internet Encyclopedia Of Philosophy] Lengthy essay by Dr. Jan Garrett details the principles of atomic theory developed by Democritus, 460370 BC. democritus of abdera lived from about 460 to 370 B.C. http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/democrit.htm
Extractions: Credit cannot be given to the tale that Democritus spent his leisure hours in chemical researches after the philosopher's stone the dream of a later age; or to the story of his conversation with Hippocrates concerning Democritus's supposed madness, as based on spurious letters. Democritus has been commonly known as "The Laughing Philosopher," and it is gravely related by Seneca that he never appeared in public with out expressing his contempt of human follies while laughing. Accordingly, we find that among his fellow-citizens he had the name of "the mocker". He died at more than a hundred years of age. It is said that from then on he spent his days and nights in caverns and sepulchers, and that, in order to master his intellectual faculties, he blinded himself with burning glass. This story, however, is discredited by the writers who mention it insofar as they say he wrote books and dissected animals, neither of which could be done well without eyes. Democritus expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus. He maintained the impossibility of dividing things ad infinitum . From the difficulty of assigning a beginning of time, he argued the eternity of existing nature, of void space, and of motion. He supposed the atoms, which are originally similar, to be impenetrable and have a density proportionate to their volume. All motions are the result of active and passive affection. He drew a distinction between primary motion and its secondary effects, that is, impulse and reaction. This is the basis of the law of necessity, by which all things in nature are ruled. The worlds which we see with all their properties of immensity, resemblance, and dissimilitude result from the endless multiplicity of falling atoms. The human soul consists of globular atoms of fire, which impart movement to the body. Maintaining his atomic theory throughout, Democritus introduced the hypothesis of images or idols (
Democritus Article on the atomist philosopher Democritus, including quotes and what little we know about his life.Category Society History By Time Period Ancient Greece Peopledemocritus of abdera. Born about democritus of abdera is best known forhis atomic theory but he was also an excellent geometer. Very little http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Democritus.html
Extractions: Democritus of Abdera is best known for his atomic theory but he was also an excellent geometer. Very little is known of his life but we know that Leucippus was his teacher. Democritus certainly visited Athens when he was a young man, principally to visit Anaxagoras , but Democritus complained how little he was known there. He said, according to Diogenes Laertius writing in the second century AD [5]:- I came to Athens and no one knew me. Democritus was disappointed by his trip to Athens because Anaxagoras , then an old man, had refused to see him. As Brumbaugh points out in [3]:- How different he would find the trip today, where the main approach to the city from the northeast runs past the impressive "Democritus Nuclear Research Laboratory". Certainly Democritus made many journeys other than the one to Athens. Russell in [9] writes:- He travelled widely in southern and eastern lands in search of knowledge, he perhaps spent a considerable time in Egypt, and he certainly visited Persia. He then returned to Abdera, where he remained.
Extractions: Greek philosopher who was a pupil of Leucippus and extended his mentor's atomic theory. He tried to account for the observable properties of matters in terms of the shapes of their constituent atoms, which he believed to be eternal, indestructible, and unchanging. He also pursued studies in physics, astronomy, zoology, botany, and medicine. In another example of amazing insight, he maintained that the Milky Way galaxy was a conglomeration of stars. Leucippus
Democritus Of Abdera - The Laughing Philosopher IEP Democritus. Anecdotes about the life of the atomist philosopher democritus of abdera, who believed it impossible to http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/democritus
PHILOSOPHERS - DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA democritus of abdera "By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention colour in reality atoms and void." (FrB125 in "Sextus Empiricus") Democritus was born in Abdera in the north of Greece. democritus of abdera. (c. 460-370) http://www.creatorix.com.au/philosophy/t06/t06f08.html
Extractions: (c. 460-370) "By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention colour: in reality atoms and void." (FrB125 - in "Sextus Empiricus") Democritus was born in Abdera in the north of Greece. Very little is known of his life, although he is said to have travelled to Egypt and Persia. Diogenes Laertius quotes him as saying: "I came to Athens and no-one knew me." Plato makes no mention of him but Aristotle credits him with the originating of the theory of Atomism. He wrote well over fifty books on subjects as various as ethics physics , mathematics, music, literature, logic and language. Yet very few genuine fragments of his work survive and his long lasting effect on western science and philosophy has been via Epicurus Where the Eleatic school ( Parmenides Zeno ) argued that reality was one and indivisible, and not-being was impossible, Democritus envisaged many indivisible particles or atoms in constant motion in a void. For him, both being and non-being together were necessary to explain the world of change and motion, generation and decay as it is experienced. Atoms moving in the void were infinite in number, and varied in size and shape. Each was indivisible but capable of connecting with others to form larger entities - the visible bodies of the world. Democritus explained sense perception and thought in terms of different shapes, interactions and amassing of atoms. The soul and fire atoms, for instance, were spherical and the most mobile and penetrative. Objects of perception are thought and believed to exist, but they do not exist in truth - only atoms and void do.
Democritus Features biographical information about the Greek natural philosopher and examines his contributions to science and atomic theory. democritus of abdera. Born about 460 BC in Abdera, Thrace, Greece http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Democritus.html
Extractions: Democritus of Abdera is best known for his atomic theory but he was also an excellent geometer. Very little is known of his life but we know that Leucippus was his teacher. Democritus certainly visited Athens when he was a young man, principally to visit Anaxagoras , but Democritus complained how little he was known there. He said, according to Diogenes Laertius writing in the second century AD [5]:- I came to Athens and no one knew me. Democritus was disappointed by his trip to Athens because Anaxagoras , then an old man, had refused to see him. As Brumbaugh points out in [3]:- How different he would find the trip today, where the main approach to the city from the northeast runs past the impressive "Democritus Nuclear Research Laboratory". Certainly Democritus made many journeys other than the one to Athens. Russell in [9] writes:- He travelled widely in southern and eastern lands in search of knowledge, he perhaps spent a considerable time in Egypt, and he certainly visited Persia. He then returned to Abdera, where he remained.
Poster Of Democritus democritus of abdera. lived from about 460 BC to about 370 BC. Democritus isbest known for his atomic theory but he was also an excellent geometer. http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Posters2/Democritus.html
The House Of Democritus Of Abdera The House of Demokritos of Abdera, democritus of abdera. Astronomy. EMail me. Links.This Geocities CapeCanaveral Ring site is owned by (democritus of abdera) . http://www.geocities.com/lucretius5978/
Democritus Of Abdera (c. 470-400 B.C.) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z democritus of abdera (c. 470400 BC) http://www.angelfire.com/on2/daviddarling/Democritus.htm
Extractions: Greek philosopher who developed the ideas of atomism , originally put forward by Leucippus . In the hands of Epicurus and Lucretius , atomistic philosophy was popularized and used to argue for the existence of extraterrestrial life. Democritus was the first to claim that the Milky Way is made up stars. See ancient philosophy, related to the possibility of extraterrestrial life
DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA democritus of abdera "By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention colour in reality atoms and void." (FrB125 in "Sextus Empiricus") Democritus was born in Abdera in the north of Greece. democritus of abdera. (c. 460-370) http://www.creatorix.com.au/philosophy/t06/t06b08.html
Extractions: (c. 460-370) "By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention colour: in reality atoms and void." (FrB125 - in "Sextus Empiricus") Democritus was born in Abdera in the north of Greece. Very little is known of his life, although he is said to have travelled to Egypt and Persia. Diogenes Laertius quotes him as saying: "I came to Athens and no-one knew me." Plato makes no mention of him but Aristotle credits him with the originating of the theory of Atomism. He wrote well over fifty books on subjects as various as ethics physics , mathematics, music, literature, logic and language. Yet very few genuine fragments of his work survive and his long lasting effect on western science and philosophy has been via Epicurus Where the Eleatic school ( Parmenides Zeno ) argued that reality was one and indivisible, and not-being was impossible, Democritus envisaged many indivisible particles or atoms in constant motion in a void. For him, both being and non-being together were necessary to explain the world of change and motion, generation and decay as it is experienced. Atoms moving in the void were infinite in number, and varied in size and shape. Each was indivisible but capable of connecting with others to form larger entities - the visible bodies of the world. Democritus explained sense perception and thought in terms of different shapes, interactions and amassing of atoms. The soul and fire atoms, for instance, were spherical and the most mobile and penetrative. Objects of perception are thought and believed to exist, but they do not exist in truth - only atoms and void do.
Astro A-Z: D electron pressure degenerate matter degenerate neutron pressure degenerate starDeimos Deinococcus radiodurans democritus of abdera denaturation Deneb Denning http://www.angelfire.com/on2/daviddarling/alphindexd.htm
Democritus Of Abdera (fl democritus of abdera (fl. On sense perception Sight takes place by means of a physical impression which does not occur spontaneously in the pupil of the eye. http://icdweb.cc.purdue.edu/~kdickson/democritus.html
Extractions: Democritus of Abdera (fl. 430 BCE On sense perception: Sight takes place by means of a physical impression...which does not occur spontaneously in the pupil of the eye. Instead, the air in between the eye and the object is compressed and stamped by both the object and the viewer, since [atoms] are always flowing from everything. (Theophrastus, 370-288 BCE) They associated vision with certain images, identical in shape with the object, that constantly streamed from the object and impressed themselves on the eye. (Alexander of Aphrodisias, 3rd century CE) On tastes: He defines "sweet" as something [made of atoms that are] round and moderately large; "sour," as what is large, round, polygonal, and linear; whatever is "sharp tasting," as the name implies, sharp edges, and is angular, crooked, and linear; whatever is "pungent" is round, small, angular, and crooked; "salty" is angular, moderately large and crooked, with sides of equal length; whatever is "bitter" is round, small, crooked, and smooth; and "oily" is fine, round, and smooth. (Theophrastus, 370-288 BCE) On knowledge: There are two kinds of knowledge: one authentic, one illegitimate. The following belong to illegitimate knowledge: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The other [sc. rationality] is genuine and distinct from this kind... We must acknowledge that, for this reason, we are separated from reality... In fact, we know nothing about anything... (Sextus Empiricus, 2nd century CE)
The Atomism Of Democritus democritus of abdera lived from about 460 to 370 BC Along with Leucippus, an olderphilosopher whose dates are uncertain, he is the founder of the atomic http://www.wku.edu/~garreje/democ.htm
Extractions: Democritus of Abdera lived from about 460 to 370 B.C. Along with Leucippus, an older philosopher whose dates are uncertain, he is the founder of the atomic philosophy of nature. Atomism is the most influential of the philosophies of nature to be developed prior to the time of Socrates (d. 399 B.C.). With Socrates the interest of philosophy shifts for awhile away from nature. After Aristotle's death the atomist philosophy is revived, with some modifications, by Epicurus. In the Roman period it was popularized in its Epicurean form in Lucretius' lengthy poem On the Nature of the Universe. In the seventeenth century (i.e., before the development of what can be recognized as modern chemistry), something like ancient atomism was revived in the philosophy of Pierre Gassendi. Immediately following is your instructor's reconstruction of the Democritean philosophy, based on the surviving fragments of Democritus himself. The "fragments" are citations and paraphrases of Democritus' writings found in various ancient authors. We do not possess any complete text from Democritus. The interested student is invited to look up the extant fragments of Democritus in any collection of the writings of the Pre-socratics. See "For Further Reading" at the end of this essay.
Extractions: Greek philosopher who was a pupil of Leucippus and extended his mentor's atomic theory. He tried to account for the observable properties of matters in terms of the shapes of their constituent atoms, which he believed to be eternal, indestructible, and unchanging. He also pursued studies in physics, astronomy, zoology, botany, and medicine. In another example of amazing insight, he maintained that the Milky Way galaxy was a conglomeration of stars. Leucippus
Democritus Of Abdera - Anagrams Rearranging the letters of democritus of abdera gives 'I add (= be creator of sum)'! Rearrangingthe letters of 'democritus of abdera' (Mathematician) gives http://www.anagramgenius.com/archive/democr4.html
Greece General Greece General. www.AnagramGenius.com Anagrams. Asclepiades of Bithynia,democritus of abdera, Eratosthenes, Hippocrates. Polyclitus, Pythagoras. http://www.anagramgenius.com/archive/grgeneral.html
ThinkQuest Library Of Entries See also atom, democritus of abdera, Leucippos, Briefing Room baryons A groupof hadrons that are made with 3 quarks. Examples include protons and neutrons. http://library.thinkquest.org/10380/glossary.shtml
Extractions: The web site you have requested, Journey Into the Atom , is one of over 4000 student created entries in our Library. Before using our Library, please be sure that you have read and agreed to our To learn more about ThinkQuest. You can browse other ThinkQuest Library Entries To proceed to Journey Into the Atom click here Back to the Previous Page The Site you have Requested ... click here to view this site
Extractions: Democritus was born in about 460 BC in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He died at about 90 years of age, in about 370 BC. Democritus was an ambitious man with goals. He traveled mostly in southernand eastern lands, He traveled to Egypt, and Persia too. The reason for traveling this much was to discover diff Note! The sentences in this essay are shuffled, making this essay unusable
Democritus Of Abdera democritus of abdera. Back to Last Page Glossary Index RelatedTerms. atomism. Definition democritus of abdera (c. 460c. 370 http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/general/bldef_democritus.htm
Extractions: Democritus of Abdera (c. 460-c. 370), nicknamed the "laughing philosopher," was a pre-Socratic promoter of atomism and of naturalistic explanations of nature and ethics, rather than supernatural explanations. Also Known As: none Alternate Spellings: none Common Misspellings: none Related Resources: Biographies of Philosophers
