The Timaeus is the dialogue that was for many centuries the most influential of Plato’s works. Among its readers we find Descartes, Boyle, Kepler and Heisenberg. In the first division of Timaeus Plato deals with the theory of celestial motion, in the second he presents us with the first mathematical theory of the structure of matter. Here, in a gigantic step forward with respect to the preceding Democritean atomistic theory with its unalterable micro-entities, he introduces the intertransformability of elementary corpuscles and with that the first “chemical” reactions in history. Plato’s geometrical interpretation of Empedocles’ elements and his geometrical atomism is described at the molecular, atomic and sub-atomic level. The “chemical” reactions reported in Timaeus are written in the enlightening chemical symbolism, analogies with modern chemistry are noticed throughout.

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早期理论化学：柏拉图在蒂迈欧的化学

《蒂迈欧篇》是几个世纪以来柏拉图作品中最具影响力的对话。在它的读者中，我们发现笛卡尔、波义耳、开普勒和海森堡。在 Timaeu​​s Plato 的第一部分处理天体运动理论，在第二部分他向我们展示了物质结构的第一个数学理论。在这里，相对于先前具有不可改变的微观实体的德谟克利特原子论向前迈出了巨大的一步，他介绍了基本小体的相互转化性以及历史上第一个“化学”反应。柏拉图对恩培多克勒元素的几何解释和他的几何原子论是在分子、原子和亚原子水平上进行描述的。Timaeu​​s 中报道的“化学”反应是用启发性的化学符号写成的，