Who Were the Atomists?

Leucippus and Democritus are widely regarded as the first atomists in the Greek tradition. Little is known about Leucippus, while the ideas of his student Democritus—who is said to have taken over and systematized his teacher's theory—are known from a large number of reports.

Who were the Atomists and what did they believe?

Atomists believed that everything was made up of a combination of atoms and the void, which was empty space. Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek atomists, such as Democritus and Epicurus, hypothesized that matter was composed of tiny, uncuttable bits called “atoms” packed into a space called a “void”.

What is Democritus known for?

What is Democritus known for? Democritus was a central figure in the development of the atomic theory of the universe. He theorized that all material bodies are made up of indivisibly small “atoms.” Aristotle famously rejected atomism in On Generation and Corruption.