When did democritus discover the atom?

Democritus Democritus was born in Abdera, Greece in 460BC. He lived to be 90 years old, dying in the year 370BC. He studied natural philosophy in Thrace, Athens, and Abdera, Greece. He enjoyed studying geometry as well. Democritus traveled to many places some of which including India, Egypt, and Babylon. Democritus was never married. read more

The first seeds for Democritus' theory came from his teacher and mentor, Leucippus, seeds that Democritus then adopted and further developed. As with many of the earliest ancient Greek philosophers, particularly the pre-Socratics, Democritus was interested in the discovery of first principles, those substances to which all subsequent substances could be essentially reduced. read more

Democritus’ model of an atom was one of an inert solid that interacted mechanically with other atoms. Credit: .science.edu.sg However, Democritus is credited with illustrating and popularizing the concept, and for his descriptions of atoms which survived classical antiquity to influence later philosophers. read more