Greece
The first ideas about atoms and their structure arose in the times of the classical Greek civilization, when emphasis was placed on seeking knowledge and applying rationality to the natural order of the world. These philosophers/scientists changed the way scientists viewed matter and atoms.
Leucippus
He is the father of atomism. He was a mentor to Democritus, who solidified his theories and became more famous because of it. He lived in Greece and opened a school of philosophy in Abdera.
Picture Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Leucippe_(portrait).jpg/220px-Leucippe_(portrait).jpg
Democritus
Democritus was a philosopher in the times of Plato and Aristotle and lived in the Greek town of Abdera. He was one of the pioneers in atomist theory along with his mentor, Leucippus.
He was curious as to what would happen if you broke and object in half, then broke it in half again,
and again,
and AGAIN.........
continuing on and on until it could break no further. He said that these unbreakable particles that resulted were the tiniest possible particles of matter.
He called them atoms, from the Greek word "atomos", which means 'indivisible'
He was curious as to what would happen if you broke and object in half, then broke it in half again,
and again,
and AGAIN.........
continuing on and on until it could break no further. He said that these unbreakable particles that resulted were the tiniest possible particles of matter.
He called them atoms, from the Greek word "atomos", which means 'indivisible'
Picture Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/790/000087529/democritus-1-sized.jpg
So what did everyone else think about his ideas?
If you can believe it, they didn't believe him!
Plato himself said that all Democritus' books should be burned! Needless to say, people didn't really like him much and the great scholars of Athens pretty much ignored him and his theories.
But what do his ideas have to do with an atomic model?
Both Democritus and Leucippus thought that atoms were hard and unbreakable spheres, like a bowling ball but waaaaaay smaller.
This idea led to the model above.
Aristotle
Aristotle completely disagreed with the ideas of Democritus and Leucippus.
He didn't even believe atoms existed!
Aristotle believed that every substance on earth was made up of a combination of any two of the four elements (fire, water, air, and earth) and couldn't be divided into atoms.
He didn't even believe atoms existed!
Aristotle believed that every substance on earth was made up of a combination of any two of the four elements (fire, water, air, and earth) and couldn't be divided into atoms.
Picture Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg/220px-Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg
So what happened next?
Well, nothing really. At least not for the next 2000 years! It wasn't until the 1700's and 1800's that scientists really began to explore the atom once more.