Democritus' theory of atoms is characterized by which two descriptors?

Democritus' theory of atoms is best described as reductionist and deterministic because it sought to explain complex phenomena by breaking them down into their most fundamental components—atoms. The reductionist approach implies that understanding the behavior of these indivisible units could ultimately explain larger physical and natural processes in the universe.

Determinism refers to the idea that everything in the universe, including human actions and thoughts, could be predicted based on the arrangement and interactions of atoms. Democritus posited that the specific configurations of atoms determined the properties of matter and, by extension, all aspects of the physical world.

This perspective on the nature of reality laid a foundational framework for later scientific inquiry, where the search for underlying principles driving observable phenomena became a central theme in the development of scientific thought.