Definition for Democritus
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Democritus (460 B.C.E. to 370 B.C.E.): Greek philosopher who traveled in the East, and was the most learned thinker of his time. He wrote many physical, mathematical, ethical, and musical works, but only a few pieces of these works survive. His atomic system assumes an infinite multitude of everlasting atoms, from whose random combinations springs an infinite number of successive world-orders in which there is law but not design. Diogenes Laertius, whose testimony is often more entertaining than reliable, relates that Democritus was schooled in theology and astronomy by Magi from Xerxes’ train. Petronious describes him as an herbalist. Among the Ancients, he was called the “Laughing Philosopher” or, more bluntly, “the mocker.”
