Atomos Aristotle and Alchemy

Atomos, Aristotle, and Alchemy

Leucippus and Democritus

• Atomism: things are made up of smaller, unchangeable, indivisible particles.

• Timeframe: Leucippus and Democritus in 440 BC and c460-371 BC.

Features of Atomism

• Atoms make up most of the universe; void where there are no atoms.

• Atoms are incredibly small, indivisible, and solid.

• Atoms are homogenous and do not change.

• Movement and collisions of atoms in void cause changes in the universe.

• Characteristics of things are influenced by the shapes, sizes, and weights of individual atoms.

Aristotle

• Disagreed with Leucippus and Democritus.

• Believed particles can be divided forever.

• Transformations between the four elements cause changes in the universe.

Anaxagoras

• Argued for an infinite number of small particles combining to form things in the universe.

Empedocles

• Stated everything is made of four eternal, unchanging types of matter.

Plato

• Expanded Empedocles' theory, suggesting rearrangement causes transformation