Plural of atomist; philosophers or scientists who believe that matter is composed of indivisible particles called atoms.
From 'atom' (from Greek 'atomos,' meaning indivisible) plus the suffix '-ist' (one who practices or believes in). Atomists were ancient Greek philosophers like Leucippus and Democritus who theorized about atomic composition.
Democritus and other atomists proposed the atomic theory around 440 BCE—over 2,000 years before we could actually see atoms—just by logical thinking and observation, which is one of history's most impressive intellectual leaps.
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