Democritus

Democritus
Democritus
	Bust of a philosopher, possibly Democritus, from the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum.
Born	c. 460 BC; Abdera, Thrace
Died	c. 370 BC (aged approx. 90)
Education
Academic advisor	Leucippus
Philosophical work
Era	Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Atomism
Main interests	Metaphysics
Notable ideas	Atoms and the void as the fundamental constituents of the physical world;

Democritus (/dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs/ dih-MOK-rih-təs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. Democritus wrote extensively on a wide variety of topics.

None of Democritus' original work has survived, except through second-hand references. Many of these references come from Aristotle, who viewed him as an important rival in the field of natural philosophy. He was known in antiquity as the ‘laughing philosopher’ because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness.