Answer to Question #4289 in Physical Chemistry for Nicole

Question

When we trace the development of atomic theory, we can see how the early form of an idea is modified rather than thrown out by later discoveries. Do you recognize parallels to this modification of basic ideas in other kinds of human experience? Explain please.

Answer 1

Atomism as a physical theory originated in the times of ancient Greece.
Its
main representatives were Leucippus and his pupil - Democritus.
Democritus
is the main advocate of atomic theory.
His idea that all bodies are composed
of tiny pieces - atoms - found
improvement during the rapid development of
science in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.
Similar examples are
found in the theory of evolution (Spencer, Darwin),
and the unity of the
whole and its particles (Kant), God and matter
(substance of Aristotle and
deism).