Question

How did Socrates influence the history of the atom?

Answer 1

Answer:

Since Socrates didn't leave any written works, we can only learn from his disciple Plato. Plato wrote that Socrates believed in an atomic theory, just not like the one we believe now. We can assume that both Plato and Socrates believed that atoms were geometric forms that were all made up of triangles.

They believed in 4 elements, so we can say that their atomic theory was based on a periodic table made up of:

• fire (tetrahedron)
• air (octahedron)
• water (icosahedron)
• earth (cube)

I guess that their major influence was that all elements could be broken down into smaller parts or atoms, in this case some type of triangle.