epicurus, as a student of democritus, thought atoms and the void comprised all of reality.
who, as a student of democritus, thought atoms and the void comprised all of reality?
epicurus
the earliest views on the shapes and connectivity of atoms was that proposed by leucippus, democritus, and epicurus who reasoned that the solidness of the material corresponded to the shape of the atoms involved. thus, iron atoms are solid and strong with hooks that lock them into a solid; water atoms are smooth and slippery; salt atoms, because of their taste, are sharp and pointed; and air atoms are light and whirling, pervading all other materials. it was democritus that was the main proponent of this view. using analogies based on the experiences of the senses, he gave a picture or an image of an atom in which atoms were distinguished from each other by their shape, their size, and the arrangement of their parts. moreover, connections were explained by material links in which single atoms were supplied with attachments: some with hooks and eyes others with balls and sockets (see diagram).
history of molecular theory
democritus believed that atoms are too small for human senses to detect, they are infinitely many, they come in infinitely many varieties, and that they have always existed. they float in a vacuum, which democritus called the "void", and they vary in form, order, and posture. some atoms, he maintained, are convex, others concave, some shaped like hooks, and others like eyes. they are constantly moving and colliding into each other. democritus wrote that atoms and void are the only things that exist and that all other things are merely said to exist by social convention. the objects humans see in everyday life are composed of many atoms united by random collisions and their forms and materials are determined by what kinds of atom make them up. likewise, human perceptions are caused by atoms as well. bitterness is caused by small, angular, jagged atoms passing across the tongue; whereas sweetness is caused by larger, smoother, more rounded atoms passing across the tongue.
atomism