Atomist

/ˈætəmɪst/ noun

Definition

A person who believes in or advocates for atomism; a scientist who studies atoms.

Etymology

From atomism + -ist (suffix for believers in a doctrine). Refers to philosophers and scientists from Democritus onward who embraced atomic theory.

Kelly Says

Democritus was the world's first atomist—he imagined tiny, indivisible particles bumping around in empty space, which is basically what quantum physics says, except he figured it out 2,000 years early.

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