Democritus
The laughing philosopher — atoms and void
The co-founder of atomism: everything that exists is atoms moving through void, and all phenomena — color, taste, sensation — are atoms in arrangement. Called the laughing philosopher because he found human folly amusing rather than tragic. His atomic theory, transmitted through Epicurus and Lucretius, was vindicated by modern physics two millennia later.
Key works
- (~70 titles attributed, all lost)— Known through fragments and Aristotle's critiques