Democritus and Aristotle

By Chelise Lomax and Amanda Warkow

Democritus 460 BCE- 370 BCE (90 years old)

Born in Abdera, Greece

Death is unsure but, at some point in his life he was blind one of his eyes

Was an ancient Greek philosopher who was the first to propose of the atom

Known as the laughing professor

EducationBabylon,

Egypt,

Ethiopia and maybe India

Mentor: Leucippus Who may have suggest the existence of the

atom

Biggest rivals:

Aristotle

Theophrastus

Diogenes

ExperimentHe took a seashell and broke it in half.

He then took that half and broke it in

half over and over and over and over

again until he was finally left with a fine

powder. He then took the smallest piece

from the powder and tried to break that

but could not.

AtomsHe called these small pieces of matter

"atoms," the Greek word for indivisible

Theory: Matter could not be divided into

smaller and smaller pieces forever,

eventually the smallest possible piece

would be obtained called an atom

Atoms continued

Democritus thought the whole universe

is composed of atoms in a void,

constantly moving around according to

determinate, understandable laws.

More AtomsThese atoms could hit each other and bounce off, and they can* hook together to make bigger things. A matter of combination and re-combination of infinite bits of binding stuff .

*hooks that combine to other atoms making up the materials of life

They can have different sizes, weights, and shapes maybe some are spheres, some are cylinders

Even More AtomsPart of the theory also stated that the characteristics of an object are determined by the shape of its atoms. So, for example, sweet things are made of smooth atoms, bitter things are made of sharp atoms.

Most of the characteristics of atoms are only qualitative

There no characteristics that of atoms that are quantitative

ideas did not invoked no God or judge of human behavior, it was questioned by many

could not prove his opinions to others and because of this his fellow peers mocked him

Aristotle384 BCE-322 BCE

Born in Stagira, Greece

Educated at Plato’s Academy

Mentor: Plato

Formed the Lyceum- school that offered science, math, philosophy, and politics

Taught Alex the Great

Rivals: Plato and Democritus

Most Important Work

Introduced scientific method

Realized first observe and describe then explain

Invented the rules of logic

The void and continuity

The Void and Continuity

Denied existence of a void

Universe filled continuously with substance

Compressibility of air does not imply empty space

Levity/Gravity

Vacancy not a prerequisite for natural motion

Work on Atomic Theory

Opposed Democritus' atomic theory

Thought matter was made of air, water, fire and Earth

Felt that regardless of the number or times you cut a form of matter in half, you would always have a smaller piece of that matter

Citations"Aristotle." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Nov 01 2013, 01:31 http://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415.

 Anderson, Scott. "PHYS771 Lecture 1: Atoms and the Void." PHYS771 Lecture 1: Atoms and the Void. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

 "Aristotle." Mathematician Biography, Facts and Pictures. Famous-Mathematicians.com, 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

 Berryman, Sylvia, Berryman,. "Democritus." Stanford University. Stanford University, 15 Aug. 2004. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

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 "Democritus - Biography." Democritus. European Graduate School EGS, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

 "Democritus." - Mathematician Biography, Facts and Pictures. Famous-Mathematicians.co, 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

 "Democritus 460bc- 370BC." Democritus 460bc- 370BC. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

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"Atomic Theory." Atomic Theory. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.