Empirical foundations of atomism in ancient Greek philosophy

Abstract

The way by which ancient Greek philosophers came to the concept of atom is presented. The concept of atom, a great creation of the human mind, gave a direct, modern-like explanation of the world, at times in which the huge amount of experimental and theoretical information of today was not available. This lack proved not an impossible obstacle for ancient Greek atomistic philosophers. The continuous regeneration, which makes Nature seem eternal, the physiology of nourishment, the orderly growth and decay of humans, animals and plants, the spreading of a sent, the evaporation and condensation of water, the wearing out of a pavement by the steps of passers-by etc., led philosophers to the concept of atoms. Similar experiences can be appealed to in teaching the concept today. Nevertheless, the concept of atom was not conceived in the same way in all ancient philosophical schools. The struggle to understand Nature, brought forth brilliant ideas and intuitions, which are directly connected to modern aspects of atomic theory, like the atomicity of time and the symmetries of the world of elementary particles. Teachers today can, with benefit to their students, retrace the ancient steps to atomic theory.