An even more influential metaphysical idea is associated with Democritus, who lived around 450 BCE. He was known as the “laughing philosopher” because of his cheerful manner. He is sometimes called “the father of modern science,” though his ideas were heavily influenced by his teacher, Leucippus. Democritus and Leucippus held that everything is made of atoms: tiny, indivisible bodies that move in an infinite void. A number of schools of Indian philosophy, such as the Nyaya, Vaisesika, and Jaina schools also put forward atomist views.
