Introduction:

I. Democritus: life and works

a. Life

b. Works

II. Atomism

a. Atom

b. Void

III. Evolution of atom from different theories

A. Dalton theory

B. Rutherford hypothesis

C. Bohr’s theory

D. Schrödinger’s atomic model

Conclusion:

Bibliography
Introduction

Atom is vast topic that we have encounter in the field of science. A small particle

that can be form a greater idea that can caught the interest of thinkers to seek it

fundamental essence base on its existence. The beginning of this idea of atom came

from Leucippus the ancient philosopher and his student Democritus. Almost there is

nothing known about the works of Leucippus that why the first part of the paper is only

focus on the life and works of Democritus who founded and give deeper understanding

of the atom. To second part of the paper will give the better understanding of atom and

motion of it to the void according to the works of Democritus. Time goes by a lot of

thinkers try to give a different concept of idea of an atom and to make their own

theories. That is why on the third part of this paper will discuss the different theories of

atom and its development to the modern science. The flow of this paper is the

Exposition of life and works of Democritus and the different ideas and concept of an

atom.
 A. Life

Democritus is an ancient philosopher who was born in a noble and wealthy family in

Abdera. He was born at Abdera, about 460 BCE, although according to some 490 also,

Abdera is the homeland of the philosopher Protagoras. Democritus was known to be

the laughing philosopher he was known in this identity because he didn’t appear to

public without the glimpse of smile and laughing while expressing his contempt to

human follies. 1After the death of his father he traveled in search of wisdom, and

devoted his inheritance to this purpose, amounting to one hundred talents. He is said to

have visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia, and India. Whether, in the course of his travels, he

visited Athens or studied under Anaxagoras is uncertain. During some part of his life he

was instructed in Pythagoreanism, and was a disciple of Leucippus. Upon his traveling

he was being enlightened by the different ideas and philosophies due to his passion to

love every wisdom. Also, he was trained by his master Leucippus to be a good thinker

and to continue of what he was started. Democritus is said to have been a pupil of

Leucippus, an important figure in the early history of philosophy about whom little is

known. Aristotle and others credit Leucippus with devising the theory of atomism, and it

is commonly believed that Democritus expanded the theory under his tutelage.

However, some scholars have suggested that Leucippus was not an actual person but

merely a character in a dialogue written by Democritus that was subsequently lost. 2

For the years of traveled he go back to Abdera, he led a small school of natural

philosophers, now known as the Atomists, who believed that our macroscopic world

1
Internet encyclopedia philosophy, Democritus (460-370 B.C.E) Retrieved on December 2, 2021, Retrieved from
https://iep.utm.edu/democrit/.
2
Democritus c. 460 BC-c. 370 BC retrieved from: http://www.montejohnson.info/PDFs/Johnson2011.pdf
could best be understood in terms of indivisible microscopic building blocks called

atoms (meaning` `not'' and tomos meaning ``cut''). 3 And Democritus blinded himself to

master his intellectual faculties as he spent his days and nights in caverns and

sepulchers. Democritus died at the age of more than hundred years old and he remain

his ideas and view that a lot of thinkers try to comprehend and develop as to the

inspiration of the ideas of Democritus.

B. Works

As a pre-Socratic philosopher a lot of works can be contributed by Democritus in the

different fields like in philosophy, Painting, even in farming and to the world of science,

also he was known as the only pre-Socratic philosopher that contributed a large number

of works. some researchers have suggested that he authored dozens of works,

touching on nearly every subject in philosophy and science. But, the work of Democritus

has survived only in secondhand reports, sometimes unreliable or conflicting. Much of

the best evidence is that reported by Aristotle, who regarded him as an important rival in

natural philosophy. Aristotle wrote a monograph on Democritus, of which only a few

passages quoted in other sources have survived. Democritus seems to have taken over
4
and systematized the views of Leucippus, of whom little is known.

The work that made Democritus famous is his atomic theory. This theory is the one

whom he adapted to his master Leucippus and he develop this atomic theory that’s why

he caught the attention of the thinkers before him to made their own atomic theory for

the development of this theory that founded by Democritus.

3
Oldershaw, R (1998) Democritus – scientific wizard of the 5th century bc, mherst College (Box 2262). Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225228855_Democritus_-_scientific_wizard_of_the_5th_century_bc
4
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (substantive revision Dec. 2 2016) Democritus, retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#toc
II. Atomism

A. Atom

Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus first developed the concept of the

atom in the 5th century B.C.E. However, since Aristotle and other prominent thinkers of

the time strongly opposed their idea of the atom, their theory was overlooked and

essentially buried until the 16th and 17th centuries. In time, Lavoisier’s groundbreaking

18th-century experiments accurately measured all substances involved in the burning

process, proving that “when substances burn, there is no net gain or loss of weight.”

Lavoisier established the science of modern chemistry, which gained greater

acceptance because of the efforts of John Dalton, who modernized the ancient Greek

ideas of element, atom, compound, and molecule; and provided a means of explaining

chemical reactions in quantitative terms. 5It is without doubt that the word “atomos” is an

ancient Greek adjective with two endings. Its etymology derives from the verb temnein,

meaning “to cut, divide”. Today, the same verb is at the root of the term “anatomy” as

well. The bits of matter that we speak of today when we refer to the concept of particles,

then, refer to the same, completely solid particles that have reached an ultimately

indivisible form. From this perspective, an “atom” represents the first and smallest entity

in a substance, which is the last indivisible particle that is reached after continuous

division. 6There are multiple unchanging material principles, which persist and merely

rearrange themselves to form the changing world of appearances. In the atomist

5
The History of the Atom 1: The Ancient Greeks,Science for All Americans, pp. 153–155. Retrieved from
http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/history-atom-ancient-greeks/
6
A. Oguz-Unver1, S. Arabacioglu2,G. Unver (2012) ATOM IN ANCIENT TIMES. EVOLUTION PROCESS OF ATOMIC IDEA IN
ANTIQUITY, Akdeniz University, Antalya, TURKEY, Retrieved From
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278678362_Atom_in_ancient_times_Evolution_process_of_atomic_Idea_in_antiquity
version, these unchanging material principles are indivisible particles, the atoms. 7 Atom

is an indivisible small particle that are infinite in various size and shape, perfectly solid

with no internal gaps. On the atomist perspective it these small and invisible particles

are the one who causes the change.

B. VOID

Clusters of atoms moving in the infinite void come to form kosmoi or worlds as a

result of a circular motion that gathers atoms up into a whirl, creating clusters within it

these kosmoi are impermanent. Our world and the species within it have arisen from the

collision of atoms moving about in such a whirl, and will likewise disintegrate in time.

In supposing that void exists, the atomists deliberately embraced an apparent

contradiction, claiming that ‘what is not’ exists. Apparently addressing an argument by

Melissus, a follower of Parmenides, the atomists paired the term for ‘nothing’ with what

it negates, ‘thing,’ and claimed that—in a phrase typical of the atomists—the one ‘no

more’ exists than the other argues that this particular phrase originated with Democritus

and not his teacher Leucippus. By putting the full (or solid) and the void ontologically on

a par, the atomists were apparently denying the impossibility of void. Void they

considered to be a necessary condition for local motion: if there were no unoccupied

places, where could bodies move into? Melissus had argued from the impossibility of

void to the impossibility of motion; the atomists apparently reasoned in reverse, arguing

from the fact that motion exists to the necessity for void space to exist. t has been

suggested that Democritus' conception of void is that of the (temporarily) unfilled

7
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (substantive revision Dec. 2 2016) Democritus, retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#toc
regions between atoms rather than a concept of absolute space. Void does not impede

the motion of atoms because its essential quality is that of ‘yielding,’ in contrast to the

mutual resistance of atoms. Later atomist accounts attest that this ‘yielding’ explains the

tendency of bodies to drift into emptier spaces, driven out by collision from more

densely packed regions.

Some controversy surrounds the properties of the atoms. They vary in size: one report

—which some scholars question—suggests that atoms could, in principle, be as large

as a cosmos, although at least in this cosmos they all seem to be too small to perceive.

They can take on an infinite variety of shapes: there are reports of an argument that

there is ‘no more’ reason for the atoms to be one shape than another. Many kinds of

atoms can interlock with one another because of their irregular shapes and hooks at

their surface, accounting for the cohesiveness of some compounds 8

III. Evolution of atom from different theories;

A. Dalton theory

8
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (substantive revision Dec. 2 2016) Democritus, retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#toc
  the atomic theory emerged in the 50 years following John Dalton's research.

Two views of matter competed among the Greeks and during the 18-19th Centuries:

Aristotle, Dalton and Faraday saw matter as continuous in-contact particles. Boyle, Gay-

Lussac and Avogadro envisaged dynamic particles separated by space. 9In Dalton’s

first theory, equal atoms—that is, atoms of the same substance—repelled each other;

but there were no interaction between atoms of different substances. Dalton’s

development of a quantitative atomic theory was directly linked to the problem of the

solubility of gases. However, as Theron Cole Jr. (1978) pointed out, the extant

evidences are not decisive about this point. Cole Jr. suggests, in turn, that the solubility

problem was one of the first applications that Dalton found for his concept of relative

atomic weights, which was developed at the same time but not as a consequence of the

solubility problem. Dalton’s development of a quantitative atomic theory was directly

linked to the problem of the solubility of gases. However, as Theron Cole Jr. (1978)

pointed out, the extant evidences are not decisive about this point. Cole Jr. suggests, in

turn, that the solubility problem was one of the first applications that Dalton found for his

concept of relative atomic weights, which was developed at the same time but not as a

consequence of the solubility problem. 10

B. Rutherford hypothesis

9
Harrison, A (2002): John Dalton's atomic theory: using the history and nature of science to teach particle concepts?
Retrieved from (0ctober 14, 2021) University. Conference contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/10018/2872

10
Porto P. & Viana H (2009), The Development of Dalton’s Atomic Theory as a Case Study in the History of Science: Reflections for
Educators in Chemistry, Retrieved from http://www.iq.usp.br/palporto/VianaPortoSci%26Educ2010.pdf
 Rutherford hypothesis model described the atom as a tiny, dense, positively

charged core called a nucleus, in which nearly all the mass is concentrated, around

which the light, negative constituents, called electrons, circulate at some distance, much

1112
like planets revolving around the Sun. Rutherford conceived in 1911 that

the atom could not be a uniform solid but rather consisted mostly of empty space, with

its mass concentrated in a tiny nucleus. This insight (the Rutherford atomic model),

combined with his supporting experimental evidence, was Rutherford’s greatest

scientific contribution, but it received little attention beyond Manchester. The positively

charged particles and most of the mass of an atom was concentrated in an extremely

small volume. He called this region of the atom as a nucleus. Rutherford negatively

charged electrons surround the nucleus of an atom. He also claimed that the electrons

surrounding the nucleus revolve around it with very high speed in circular paths. He

named these circular paths as orbits.

C. Bohr’s theory

In 1913, Neils Bohr, a student of Rutherford's, developed a new model of the

atom. He proposed that electrons are arranged in concentric circular orbits around the

nucleus. This model is patterned on the solar system and is known as the planetary

model. Bohr model, description of the structure of atoms, especially that of hydrogen,

proposed (1913) by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Bohr model of the atom, a

radical departure from earlier, classical descriptions, was the first that
11
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Rutherford model". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Nov. 2020,
https://www.britannica.com/science/Rutherford-model. Accessed 12 December 2021.
12
Melsen, Andrew G.M. van. "atomism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Mar. 2016,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/atomism. Accessed 14 October 2021.
incorporated quantum theory and was the predecessor of wholly quantum-

mechanical models. The Bohr model and all of its successors describe the properties of

atomic electrons in terms of a set of allowed (possible) values. Atoms absorb or emit

radiation only when the electrons abruptly jump between allowed, or stationary,

states. To make the model in accordance with the regular patterns (spectral series) of

light emitted by real hydrogen atoms, Bohr modified that idea of planetary electron

motion. Bohr was able to explain the series of discrete wavelengths in the hydrogen

emission spectrum by restricting the circling electrons to a series of circular orbits with

discrete radii. He suggested that light only emitted from hydrogen atoms when an

electron moved from an outer orbit to one closer to the nucleus. The energy lost by the

electron during the sudden transition is identical to the energy of the emitted light

quantum.13

A theory by a lesser scientist might receive ridicule instead of praise. Apparently,

this occurred. Arthur Haas in 1909 made a number of proposals in the field of atomic

physics. One of his proposals anticipated Bohr’s theory of the atom. However,

prominent scientists of this era dismissed Haas’ work and praised Bohr’s theory. In

Bohr’s theory a hydrogen atom exists in a stationary state unless light is absorbed or

emitted. When the state of the atom changes, the energy absorbed or emitted is

quantized. We can reproduce Bohr’s theory easily, albeit not exactly as he did. We will

use some ideas developed some 10 years after Bohr’s original work. 14

13
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Bohr model". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Jan. 2020,
https://www.britannica.com/science/Bohr-model. Accessed 14 October 2021.
14
Squires, Gordon Leslie. "quantum mechanics". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jun.
, https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-mechanics-physics. Accessed 14 October 2021
 D. Schrödinger’s atomic model

Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian scientist, advanced the Bohr atom model in 1926.

To describe the possibility of detecting an electron in a specific position, Schrödinger

employed mathematical equations. The quantum mechanical model of the atom is the

name given to this atomic model. Unlike the Bohr model, the quantum mechanical

model does not specify an electron's exact path; rather, it forecasts the probability of the

electron's position. A nucleus surrounded by an electron cloud can be depicted in this

model. The probability of locating the electron is greatest where the cloud is most

dense, and the electron is less likely to be in a less dense portion of the cloud. As a

result, the concept of sub-energy levels was incorporated in this model. 15

Schrödinger is credited with establishing quantum mechanics in a manner that is

generally applicable. Schrödinger's theory has the advantage of not requiring any

additional arbitrary quantum conditions. The required quantum findings are the outcome

of acceptable constraints placed on the wave function, such as the requirement that it

not become infinitely big at enormous distances from the potential center. Schrödinger

applied his equation to the hydrogen atom, for which the potential function, given by

classical electrostatics, is proportional to −e2/r, where −e is the charge on the electron.

The nucleus (a proton of charge e) is situated at the origin, and r is the distance from

the origin to the position of the electron. Schrödinger solved the equation for this

particular potential with straightforward, though not elementary, mathematics. Only

16
certain discrete values of E lead to acceptable functions Ψ. This atomic model has
15
Modern Atomic Theory: Models, retrieved on December 04, 2021, Retrieved from:
http://www.abcte.org/files/previews/chemistry/s1_p6.html
16
Squires, Gordon Leslie. "quantum mechanics". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jun.
, https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-mechanics-physics. Accessed 14 October 2021
heavy mathematical understanding in order grasp the equation and movement of an

atom.

Conclusion:

This paper is trying to bring out the idea of an atom which is founded by

Democritus whom offer a big contribution to the philosophical world and science to

describe the movement of change which is the movement of an atom. The idea of an

atom which Democritus describe in the ancient world is merely develop by those atomist

goes to the present modern science. Therefore, in this paper is try to give an exposition

to the different idea of an atom from Democritus to the modern science. Those

exposition shows above is the proof that the movement of an ancient idea of

Democritus is still developing to seek the fundamental truth that bring by the idea of an

atom.
Bibliography:
A. Oguz-Unver1, S. Arabacioglu2,G. Unver (2012) ATOM IN ANCIENT TIMES.
EVOLUTION PROCESS OF ATOMIC
IDEA IN ANTIQUITY, Akdeniz University, Antalya, TURKEY, Retrieved From
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278678362_Atom_in_ancient_times_Ev
olution_process_of_atomic_Idea_in_antiquity

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Rutherford model". Encyclopedia

Britannica, 9 Nov. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/science/Rutherford-

model. Accessed 14 October 2021.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Bohr model". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23

Jan. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/science/Bohr-model. Accessed 14

October 2021.

Democritus c. 460 BC-c. 370 BC retrieved from:

http://www.montejohnson.info/PDFs/Johnson2011.pdf

Harrison, A (2002): John Dalton's atomic theory: using the history and nature of

science to teach particle concepts? Retrieved from (0ctober 14, 2021)

Internet encyclopedia philosophy, Democritus (460-370 B.C.E) Retrieved on
December 2, 2021, Retrieved from
https://iep.utm.edu/democrit/.

University. Conference contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/10018/2872

Oldershaw, R (1998) Democritus – scientific wizard of the 5th century bc, mherst
College (Box 2262). Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225228855_Democritus_-
_scientific_wizard_of_the_5th_century_bc

Porto P. & Viana H (2009), The Development of Dalton’s Atomic Theory as a Case
Study in the History of Science: Reflections forEducators in Chemistry, Retrieved
from http://www.iq.usp.br/palporto/VianaPortoSci%26Educ2010.pdf

Modern Atomic Theory: Models, retrieved on December 04, 2021, Retrieved from:
http://www.abcte.org/files/previews/chemistry/s1_p6.html

Melsen, Andrew G.M. van. "atomism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Mar. 2016,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/atomism. Accessed 14 October 2021
 Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (substantive revision Dec. 2 2016)
Democritus, retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#toc
Squires, Gordon Leslie. "quantum mechanics". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jun.
, https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-mechanics-physics. Accessed 14

October 2021

The History of the Atom 1: The Ancient Greeks,Science for All Americans, pp. 153–155.
fromhttp://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/history-atom-ancient-greeks/