One of the earliest and greatest Greek philosophers was a man named Democritus. He is not as well known as other great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato or Aristotle, but he contributed greatly to the development of philosophy to this day. He, along with all the pre-Socratic philosophers, was a natural or physical philosopher. He is sometimes called the father of modern sciences after his major discoveries and works. He was born in the city of Abdera, Greece, although some reports called him Milesian, in c. 460 BC and died aged approximately 90 in c. 370 BC He was born to a wealthy family and liked to travel. He was known as the laughing philosopher because he underlined the importance of the value of cheerfulness. Democritus is said to have written more than 70 books but none of them have survived. Most of his works were unreliable because, along with the works of most ancient Greek philosophers, they were found only in second-hand accounts. Most of his works were recounted second-hand by another great philosopher named Aristotle because he considered Democritus to be his greatest rival in the natural sciences. He seems to have taken up the works of his mentor, Leucippus. Both were very good. His knowledge was vast as he worked in diverse fields such as cosmology, music, mathematics, ethics, and physics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004). Democritus, together with his teacher Leucippus, was an atomist. Atomists believed that nature was composed of two fundamental principles, atoms and vacuum. Atom comes from the Greek word atomos which means indivisible or something that cannot be broken down further. Parmenides, another well-known pre-Socratic philosopher, believed that everything that exists has always been...... middle of paper ......on is because Democritus focused more on the "many" rather than the "one" . ' while Plato, on the other hand, focused more on the 'one' rather than the 'many'. In my opinion Plato placed Democritus in the lowest class of his ideal state along with the producers who see objects as beautiful and believe in change rather than beauty itself lasting forever. They may be opposite to each other, but both have contributed greatly to the advancement of philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2004). Although not as famous as Socrates or Plato, Democritus was one of the greatest Greek philosophers who ever lived. His works may not be very reliable because none have remained intact, but they represented a huge contribution to the development of philosophy, especially his atomic theory. His works made him known as the laughing philosopher and also as the father of modern sciences.