Early ideas about matter
- Kanada, associated with the Vaisheshika school of Indian philosophy, proposed that repeated division of matter would ultimately reach indivisible entities called paramanu.
- The ancient idea of paramanu was philosophical; it should not be treated as identical to the modern scientific atom, which is supported by experiments and contains subatomic particles.
- The word atom comes from the Greek atomos, meaning indivisible.
- Modern science has shown that atoms are divisible into electrons, protons and neutrons, while protons and neutrons themselves are made of quarks.