Ancient+Times+(450+AD+and+prior)

Democritus 460-370 BC Discovery: Unknown

[] Democritus was born in Abdera, Thace, in 460 BC into a noble family with great wealth. Once his father passed away Democritus traveled in search of wisdom. He went to Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia and India. Eventually he returned home, in Abdera and gave public lectures. Petronius relates that he was acquainted with the virtues of herbs, plants, and stones, and that he spent his life in making experiments upon natural bodies. He acquired fame with his knowledge of natural phenomena, and predicted changes in the weather. He used this ability to make people believe that he could predict future events. Democritus became “The Laughing Philosopher” of his time due to never being about to keep a straight face while addressing his public audience. Democritus expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus, who was his teacher for the longest time and was the one who began to suggest the atomic theory. He know that atoms were too small to be seen and that they come together to form all materials. According to Democritus, atoms, which are eternal, determined the properties of mass that they make up and similarly his teacher determined that atoms were always in motion in space. Democritus also stated that atoms cannot be divided any further. Democritus’ atom theory consists of every atom being a small, spherical, and a solid that is indivisible and indestructible. His model is very simple and sleek compared to what we now know what an atom looks like. However, it is important to acknowledge Democritus’ atomic model because it was the starting point of discovering more about an atom. The main difference between his model and today’s model is that Democritus does not include a nucleus or electrons. He focused more around the idea that an atom was the last part of “something” and it cannot be divided into small pieces.

[]

Aristotle 384 BC- 322 BC Discovery:Unknown

[] Aristrotle was born in 384 BC in the town or Stageira. His father sent him to the Academy to be a student which then transfered into a researcher and then a teacher. While there he adopted and developed Platonic ideas. Plato was his teacher at the time. When Plato died, he left the Academy to his son, so Aristrolte moved out and opened a branch of the Academy in Asia Minor. This Academy focused more on biology. Aristotle was a very influenctial man. According to his writings and records from his time he embraced the whole circle of knowledge of his time. He discovered Organon, Rhetoric, Poetics and Meteorology. He also created natural science. Through his study of animals he suggested a method of classification, which continues to this day.

Leucippus 40 BCE Discovery:Unknown [] Leucippis was the founder of atomism in physics. He was born in Elea, Abdera or Miletus. His dates are unknown, but he did live during the fifth century BCE. He was a student of Parmenides' follower Zero, who is best known for paradoxes suggesting that motion is impossible because a magnitude can be divided into an infinite number of parts, each of which must be traversed; the fact that atomism is thought to have been formulated in response to these arguments may account for the story that Leucippus was a student of Zeno. Leucippus is named by most sources as the originator of the theory that the universe consists of two different elements, which he called ‘the full’ or ‘solid,’ and ‘the empty’ or ‘void’. Both the void and the solid atoms within it are thought to be infinite, and between them to constitute the elements of everything. Because little is known of Leucippus' views and his specific contributions to atomist theory, a fuller discussion of the developed atomist doctrine is found in the entry for Democritus.

Issac Newton 1643 – 1727 Discovery: 1687

Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in a manor house in Lincolnshire, England. When Isaac was three his mother remarried, and Isaac remained with his grandmother. He was sent to Cambridge University to study. Isaac thought the universe worked like a machine and that a few simple laws controlled it. Isaac Newton was one of the world’s great scientists because he took his ideas, and the ideas of earlier scientists, and combined them into a unified picture of how the universe works. He formulated laws of motion and gravitation. In 1687 Newton made three laws that described the movement of a basic object. The first is an object in motion stays in motion unless an outside force acts apon it. The secon law is force is equal to the change in momentum per change in time. And lastly the third law is for every action there is an equal and oppisite reaction.