ABSTRACT
The idea of fundamental particles has always symbolized the deepest aim of scientific cognition-to express the complexity of nature through its simplest notions. Twenty-five hundred years ago Greek philosophers laid the foundations of our understanding of the nature of matter, when they made the first attempts to reduce the variety of the world to the interaction of a few initial components, fundamental particles, or elements. In 4 B.C. Phales suggested that water was the single primary element, of which all the existing world is made up. Later Anaximen from Milet extended the list of primary elements to four, such as soil, air, fire, and water. It is generally agreed that Democritus (460-370 B.C.) is the creator of the atom idea, however, history also mentions his teacher Levkipus in this connection.
