Democritus was born at Abdera, Thrace, sometime around 458 BCE. He was described as well traveled, probably visiting Babylon, Egypt, and Ethiopia, and perhaps India. He appears to have spent all of his time on scientific and philosophical studies, teaching, and writing— some 60 works have been listed. Of his voluminous writings, only a few fragments of his ethical theory remain. But these fragments and the descriptions by other writers of his atomic theory put him among the foremost thinkers of his time.
Democritus’s theory of the atomic nature of the physical world, developed from that of Leucippus, is known only through the works of critics of the theory such as Aristotle and Theophrastus. It resolved the question of how a world evidently in a state of flux could nevertheless have an underlying nature that was eternal and unchanging. By positing infinitely small things that remained the same but formed different combinations with each other, Leucippus initially, and Democritus in greater detail, managed to answer the question in a way that has been subject to increasingly successful elaboration ever since. One can trace the physical theory of atoms through Epicurus, Lucretius, and Galileo to modern times.
Hermippus wrote that when Democritus was nearing his end, his sister was upset because his death could prevent her from worshipping at the three-day festival of Thesmophoria. Democritus told her not to worry, and kept himself alive by inhaling the fresh smell of baked loaves until the end of the festival, when he relinquished his life without pain. Hipparchus wrote that Democritus was then in his 109th year.
Democritus was born in the city of Abdera in Thrace, an Ionian colony of Teos, although some called him a Milesian. His year of birth was 460 BC according to Apollodorus, who is probably more reliable than Thrasyllus who placed it ten years earlier. John Burnet has argued that the date of 460 is "too early", since according to Diogenes Laërtius ix.41, Democritus said that he was a "young man (neos)" during Anaxagoras' old age (circa 440–428). It was said that Democritus' father was so wealthy that he received Xerxes on his march through Abdera. Democritus spent the inheritance which his father left him on travels into distant countries, to satisfy his thirst for knowledge. He travelled to Asia, and was even said to have reached India and Ethiopia. We know that he wrote on Babylon and Meroe; he must also have visited Egypt, and Diodorus Siculus states that he lived there for five years. He himself declared that among his contemporaries none had made greater journeys, seen more countries, and met more scholars than himself. He particularly mentions the Egyptian mathematicians, whose knowledge he praises. Theophrastus, too, spoke of him as a man who had seen many countries. During his travels, according to Diogenes Laërtius, he became acquainted with the Chaldean magi. A certain "Ostanes", one of the magi accompanying Xerxes was also said to have taught him.
ARISTOTLE
Aristotle, born in 384 B.C. in Stagira, in Thrace, at the northern end of the Aegean, near Macedonia. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus was the family physician of King Philip of Macedonia. At the age of eighteen, Aristotle came to Athens to study at Plato’s Academy, and stayed there twenty years until Plato’s death in 348 B.C.
Born at Stagira in northern Greece, Aristotle was the most notable product of the educational program devised by Plato; he spent twenty years of his life studying at the Academy. When Plato died, Aristotle returned to his native Macedonia, where he is supposed to have participated in the education of Philip's son, Alexander (the Great). He came back to Athens with Alexander's approval in 335 and established his own school at the Lyceum, spending most of the rest of his life engaged there in research, teaching, and writing. His students acquired the name "peripatetics" from the master's habit of strolling about as he taught.
Aristotle’s method of investigation varied from one natural science to another, depending on the problems encountered, but it usually included:
1. defining the subject matter
2. considering the difficulties involved by reviewing the generally accepted views on the subject, and suggestions of earlier writers
3. presenting his own arguments and solutions.
Again, this is the pattern modern research papers follow, Aristotle was laying down the standard professional approach to scientific research. The arguments he used were of two types: dialectical, that is, based on logical deduction; and empirical, based on practical considerations.
Aristotle often refuted an opposing argument by showing that it led to an absurd conclusion, this is called reductio ad absurdum (reducing something to absurdity). As we shall see later, Galileo used exactly this kind of argument against Aristotle himself, to the great annoyance of Aristotelians 2,000 years after Aristotle.
Another possibility was that an argument led to a dilemma: an apparent contradiction. However, dilemmas could sometimes be resolved by realizing that there was some ambiguity in a definition, say, so precision of definitions and usage of terms is essential to productive discussion in any discipline.
One of the greatest thinkers of all time was Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher. His work in the natural and social sciences greatly influenced virtually every area of modern thinking.
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