It was natural philosophy. Yeah it’s pre science, but it’s far more in the realm of philosophy and while it could’ve been wrong it was a reasonable guess. They probably thought there were atoms of granite and air, but they came at it from the perspective that things can be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces, but there’s probably a smallest piece that can’t be broken. Beyond that reasonable estimate, they were basically wrong about all of it, including the “can’t be broken”
Yeah atomos, Ancient Greek concept. Not like beryllium and oxygen and shit, but the smallest discrete unit of a material
Yes, but this was basically pre scientific.
They just guessed and happened to get it right.
With some exceptions, it really took until the 17th century to actually develop the scientific method.
Edit: what a weird thing to down vote.
It was natural philosophy. Yeah it’s pre science, but it’s far more in the realm of philosophy and while it could’ve been wrong it was a reasonable guess. They probably thought there were atoms of granite and air, but they came at it from the perspective that things can be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces, but there’s probably a smallest piece that can’t be broken. Beyond that reasonable estimate, they were basically wrong about all of it, including the “can’t be broken”
Right. The point is they didn’t even try to test it.
That took far too long for humanity to figure that out.