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The early and medieval Christians hid, burned or destroyed the works of Democritus, arguably one of the smartest human to ever live.
The fragments of his writings we have left are brilliant - he postulated the atom, and wrote about everything from the origin of human beings, artistic perspective, mathematics, anthropology, biology, medicine, cosmology, poetry, physics, and atomic theory.
Because his views and scientific method of relying on facts and experience not theology, were not compatible with Christian Doctrine, all were lost or destroyed by the early 'saints (fanatics much like those today) and the 'holy' Church in favor of Plato whose work was more compatible with Christian Doctrine.
A millenium and more would pass before Galileo and Newton took up where he left off.
Who Was Democritus?
DECEMBER 11, 2015 BY MATT WILLIAMS
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And along the way, many names stand out as examples of people who achieved breakthroughs and helped lay the foundations of our modern understanding. One such person is Democritus, an ancient Greek philosopher who is viewed by many as being the “father of modern science”. This is due to his theory of universe that is made up of tiny “atoms”, which bears a striking resemblance to modern atomic theory.
Though he is typically viewed as one of Greece’s many pre-Socratic natural philosopher, many historians have argued that he is more rightly classified as a scientist, at least when compared to his contemporaries.
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In the tradition of the atomists, Democritus was a thoroughgoing materialists who viewed the world in terms of natural laws and causes. This differentiated him from other Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, for whom philosophy was more teleological in nature – i.e. more concerned with the purpose of events rather than the causes, as well things like essence, the soul, and final causes.
According to the many descriptions and anecdotes about Democritus, he was known for his modesty, simplicity, and commitment to his studies. One story claims he blinded himself on purpose in order to be less distracted by worldly affairs (which is believed to be apocryphal). He was also known for his sense of humor and is commonly referred to as the “Laughing Philosopher” – for his capacity to laugh at human folly. To his fellow citizens, he was also known as “The Mocker”.
Scientific Contributions:
Democritus is also known for having spent much of his life experimenting with and examining plants and minerals. Similar to his work in mathematics and geometry, citations from existing works are used to infer the existence of works on the subject. These include On the Nature of Man, the two-volume collection On Flesh, On Mind, On the Senses, On Flavors, On Colors, Causes concerned with Seeds and Plants and Fruits, and to the three-volume collection Causes concerned with Animals.
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Democritus is renowned for being a pioneer of mathematics and geometry. He was among the first Greek philosophers to observe that a cone or pyramid has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism with the same base and height. While none of his works on the subject survived the Middle Ages, his mathematical proofs are derived from other works with contain extensive citations to titles like On Numbers, On Geometrics, On Tangencies, On Mapping, and On Irrationals.
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Ultimately, Democritus is credited as being one of the founders of the modern science because his methods and theories closely resemble those of modern astronomers and physicists. And while his version of the atomic model differs greatly from our modern conceptions, his work was of undoubted value, and was a step in an ongoing process that included such scientists as John Dalton, Neils Bohr and even Albert Einstein.
etc. etc.
Back in the late 60's the Smothers Brothers had a wildly popular show called the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It was sort of a mixed bag of music, comedy skits and some standup comedy. It was very hip and we baby-boomers loved their show, but so did many of our parents.
Of course the Smothers Brothers were outspoken against the Vietnam War - as we all were in those days - and the Republicans/Conservatives had an absolute fit. Nasty letter campaigns, boycotting the sponsors' products, phone calls to the media, op-eds in the newspapers - all did their trick and the Smothers' Brothers show was cancelled after one year, even though their ratings were very high.
That's the first time "cancel culture" politics came into play, even though we didn't use that term.
