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Atomism became the synthesis between being and becoming. Leucippus of Miletus (unknown),and his student, Democritus (480–370 BCE), often considered the father of modern science, believed that the world was made up of atoms. They believed that the psyche, the soul, was made up of the purest, spherical, atoms. These atoms were scattered throughout the body, producing movement and after death were scattered throughout the universe because they could not die.

The Greek word for atom, atomos, means “uncuttable.” The atom symbolizes the synthesis of Parmenidean thought of the indivisible and eternal with Heraclitan theory of constant change. Atoms were seen as indivisible and unchanging: being, the essential arche of nature. Atoms are also in constant movement, becoming, as they move into empty space. Atoms then separate to create the particles that cause everything in nature, whether it is fire or thought.