Question

how did modern civilization come to learn about the ideas of leucippus and democritus ?

Answer 1

The first proponents of an atomic theory were the Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus who proposed the basic atomic model in the fifth century B.C.

This model attracted few supporters among later generations of Greek philosophers. However, Aristotle refused to accept the idea that the natural world could be reduced to a random assortment of atoms moving through a vacuum.

Epicurus (341–270 BCE) studied atomism with Nausiphanes who had been a student of Democritus. Although Epicurus was certain of the existence of atoms and the void, he was less sure we could adequately explain specific natural phenomena such as earthquakes, lightning, comets, or the phases of the Moon (Lloyd 1973, 25–6). His ideas are also represented in the works of his follower Lucretius, who wrote On the Nature of Things. This scientific work in poetic form illustrates several segments of Epicurean theory on how the universe came into its current stage and it shows that the phenomena we perceive are actually composite forms.

Gradually, these started spreading around in the people which later improved with time.