Granted, then, that empty space extends without limit in every direction and that seeds innumerable are rushing on countless courses through an unfathomable universe . . ., it is in the highest degree unlikely that this earth and sky is the only one to have been created . . . So we must realize that there are other worlds in other parts of the universe, with races of different men and different animals.

... no rest is allowed the atoms moving through the depths of space. Driven along in an incessant but variable movement. Some of them bounce far apart after a collision [while others] recoil but little. Entangled by their own close-coupled shapes, they make strong rooted rock or the bulk of iron.

"Nature does all things spontaneously, by herself, without the meddling of gods"

Text Tool Exercise: What do the above three passages mean? When do you think they were written, respectively?








Text Tool Exercise: What do the above three passages mean? When do you think they were written, respectively?

There are a number of philosophers who were members of the atomist school of thought: from Democritus in the 6th / 5th century BC to Epicurus in the 3rd century and the Roman Lucretius in the 1st Century BC. The latter is our primary source for the Atomistic science - the view that all of matter must be made of very small building blocks that form and reform. The Universe is in a constant state of transformation.

In general, they scorned the mystery-laden polytheism of Rome. Epicureans believed that things are what they seem to be -- that our senses don't deceive us. In other words "Truth" is what we sense.

Basic atomist concepts:

• There is an infinite number of atoms and they are in constant movement in an infinite void. They collide with, and rebound from one another and so form complex bodies. The sensible (that is what we see, hear, feel, etc) qualities that these bodies possess are not real but mere appearances. Hence some atoms may have "hooks" and attach themselve readily to atoms that have "handles"; others are "smooth" and resist formation into larger units. The shapes fall into certain and often complementary categories, and as the atoms collide they tend to form the same basic structure again and again (e.g, "people", "trees", etc)

• All such qualities as heat, color, taste and so on are derived from, and reducible to, differences in the primary propoerties of atoms such as shape and position.

• The atoms fall in one direction and equally fast. There is a problem: In such a scheme, no atom would ever encounter another, but clearly there are such encounters, so [Epircurus believes] there must a built-in swerve that occurs at random intervals. The implications: the visible world is a consequence of random collisions and fortuitous combination of atoms.

This system creates a mechanistic world --and this is the source of the criticsm both in the ancient and Christian worlds:

• if everything in nature is the product of random encounters, then we do not have any "choice" and without choice there is no need for morality. Everything that happens to us is a consequence of random behavior of atoms. Hence the best response is to avoid any unnecessary pain, to seek enduring pleasure (that comes from knowing that natural events are not signs of an angry god)

• as everything in nature is made up of atoms, it follows too that the soul, too is "material" (made up of lighter and faster atoms). There is no reason then to fear or be anxious about death, for it means nothing more than the redeployment of atoms.

The views expressed here are really quite amazing when it comes to significantly pre-dating what we view as "modern scientific thinking".

So from these writings, which were lost initially, possible recovered in the 8th to 9th century, but definitely printed in 1473 we have expressions of

1. A developed atomic theory
2. clearly spelled out law of conservation of matter and energy (this will become important later)
3. evolutionary biology
4. definite non-uniqueness about the Earth and Nature the universe is random