The Ancient Greeks and the Atom

"By convention sweet and by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention color, but in reality atoms and void." - Democritis

The idea that everything is made up of matter too small to be seen comes from the Ancient Greeks from around 440 BC and is usually credited to Leucippus of Miletus. The Greeks called these tiny building-blocks "atoms" - from the Greek word "atomos" meaning "uncuttable".

The Ancient Greeks were able to theorize about atoms despite not having any of the technology available these past 500 years or so. Quite an astounding feat of logic when you think of it.

Only until the past 75-years has man been able to "split" the "uncuttable" atom. And less than 120-years since science first theorized about the atom itself being made up of smaller parts and then those parts being made up of even smaller parts.

But in a sense it is all still just atoms and void.