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The idea of the atom is so deeply embedded in our culture that we don't even stop to think about how this concept came about. Nor about how abstract this idea is. In this video, we will study the beginnings of the concept of the atom. Its emergence in Ancient Greece, through the pre-Socratic philosopher called Democritus, who actually thought of the atom as a form of synthesis of the two systems of thought that reigned in ancient Greece: Parmenides' being and Heraclitus' becoming. In addition, we will explore the concept of the atom in ancient India, the three Indian schools of thought that were thinking about this concept at the same time as the Greeks: the Hindu Nyaya-Vaisesika school, Buddhist atomism and the Jains. We will also see why atomism was abandoned in the Middle Ages.