Mind-Benders of Greek & Roman History
The idea of the atom is about 2,200 years older than modern chemistry
Around 430 BCE the Greek philosopher Democritus, building on his teacher Leucippus, held that all matter is made of tiny indivisible particles — atomos, “uncuttable” — moving through a void. Modern atomic theory arrived only with John Dalton in 1808.
How we know
Democritus c. 460–370 BCE (active c. 430 BCE), atomism with Leucippus; Dalton's A New System of Chemical Philosophy, 1808 CE — about 2,200 years later.
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.