Abstract
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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Notes
The numbers and letters that appear in the margins of the translations of Timaeus are the standard means of precise reference to passages in Timaeus (Plato 2008, Gregory’s Introduction, p. lviii). The system is based on a famous early edition of the works of Plato edited by the Parisian printer Henri Estienne in 1578.
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I wish to thank Aldo Spizzichino for the figures and Richard Wertime for his kind remarks on my English. The paper is dedicated to the dear memory of Aldo.
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Di Giacomo, F. Early theoretical chemistry: Plato’s chemistry in Timaeus. Found Chem 23, 17–30 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-020-09364-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-020-09364-6