HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC THEORY Time Line

Democritus Discovered and Explained the 4 Elements

450 BCE

Aristotle and Democritus lived more than 2000 years ago in Greece. Aristotle believed in 4 elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Democritus believed that matter was made of small particles he named “atoms”. Aristotle and Democritus used observation and inference to explain the existence of everything.