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-Democritus- (460-370 BC)

Democritus was considered to be the first to describe invisible "atoms" as the base of all matter. He considered his atoms to be indestructible, indivisible, and differing in size, shape, and motion. Democritus learned about the Atomic Theory from Leucippus, who wrote the book; //Big Cosmology//. Democritus felt space was infinite in extent and atoms were infinite in number. His understanding of atomic structure led people to think of Democritus as more of a scientist than a Greek Philosopher.



-Aristotle- (b. 384-322 BC)

Aristotle was a Greek Philosopher who was the most notable product of the educational program created by Plato. He was the first to classify human knowledge into disciplines such as mathematics, Biology, and ethics. Aristotle was also the first to develop a formalized system for reasoning. He determined the validity of any arguement can be determined by its structure, rather than its content. A good example of this was his syllogism, "all men are mortal. Socrates was a man, therefore he is mortal." Aristotle famously rejected Plato's theory of forms, arguing that forms are intrinsic to objects and cannot exist apart from them.