How did chemistry started?

Answer 1

Early Greeks

In the fifth century B.C., a man called Leucippus came up with the idea that the natural world was composed of either atoms or voids. His pupil, Democritus further refined this idea of atomism into a more deterministic form. Democritus' theory states that all matter is made of atoms and atoms are invisible, indivisible, and indestructible. However, he had no proof to back it up and because of this, people didn't believe in his idea. In time, he would become known as the "laughing philosopher" because he and his ideas were laughed at.

Alchemists and Transmutation

Aristotle, another Greek philosopher had a completely different theory in contrast with atomism. He believed that all matter is made up of four elements; air, fire, water, and earth. Different proportions of these four elements in theory would have made up the different things that exist in the natural world. By physically manipulating the proportions of the elements, matter can be changed from one form to another. This idea was known as transmutation and the main goal of transmutation is to make gold out of a less costly material. Like Democritus, Aristotle did not have proof of his theory. However, because he was so well respected in the community, this idea held for 2000 years even though it was wrong.

In Conclusion:

Chemistry began with early greek philosophers trying to figure out what the natural world was made up of. The belief that the world was made of 4 elements held strong and for 2000 years people believed that. Alchemists (the early day chemists) began to experiment to try and turn things in the natural world (transmutation) to gold or find the elixir of immortality through these experiments. That is where chemistry began.

Answer 2

some people think it started back around deomcritus and aristotles time when democritus came up with his theory about 'atomos' or what we now know as atoms