Writing of the value to science and modern thought of the atomic theory of the early Greek philosophers, Professor Walter T. Marvin, of Rutgers College, points out that a theory can be significant in at least three ways, namely:--“(1) by destroying or inhibiting other beliefs; (2) by arousing interest in new problems and by suggesting new methods of investigation; (3) by what it itself enables us to explain correctly. This theory was most significant in destroying old beliefs or, to adopt a much used expression, in ‘_enlightening_’ the cultured Greeks. A thoughtful Greek could hardly believe that the universe is a cloud of atoms moving about in accordance with necessary mechanical laws, and at the same time continue to believe the primitive traditions and superstitions of his people. The worship of the gods and the old magical rites and ceremonies must needs seem to him utterly ineffective and useless, valuable customs no doubt for their purely psychological influence upon the ignorant and unruly masses but of course absurdities for the cultured and disciplined man. Hence no wonder that the spread of this and the preceding cosmological theories would result, in a society such as that of the Greek world in the sixth and fifth centuries B. C., in a _radical enlightenment_. No wonder that their spread was opposed by men of conservative tendencies. In this first respect early Greek science and in particular the atomic theory were of great historical significance.”[2] THE ATOMIC THEORY OF THE PYTHAGOREANS In the ancient Sanskrit literature of India (written prior to 500 B. C.), an atomic theory of matter is formulated by Kanada (literally “atom eater”--a term of derision), founder of the Nyaga system of philosophy, and said to have been a pupil of Buddha. He states that the atoms are eternal and that the ultimate atom is simple. Kapila, the leading exponent of the Sankhya philosophy, speaks of “five subtle” kinds of particles (atoms), and a substance akin to our luminiferous ether--the five particles being, no doubt, the “five elements” of the Laws of Menu; viz., earth, water, wind (air), fire and ether--this last the parent, so to speak, of all the other elements, through a process of successive transformations. In the “Angutarra Nikaja,” consciousness (mind) is mentioned as a sixth element, also atomic in structure. In his “History of Hindu Chemistry,” Sir P. C. Ray expresses the opinion that the atomic theory of the ancient Greeks was derived directly from the more ancient Hindu doctrine--a view upheld by the great German Sanskrit scholar, Dr. Max Müller, as also by some Greek scholars. _The_ atomic theory, the earliest known to have been worked out in detail, is that of the Greek philosopher Leucippus, of Miletus, Ionia; though the mantle of honor has fallen mostly on the shoulders of his far better known pupil, Democritus of Abdera, Thrace.