Democritus 'Lucretius' On The Nature Of Things

Lucretius’ scientific speculation was inspired by Democritus’ atomic theory and Epicurus’ interpretation of this theory. On the Nature of Things explains life and the world in terms of Epicurean principles and Atomism. Throughout the poem Lucretius concludes that nothing can come from nothing because everything follows an ordered sequence, nothing can be resolved into nothing, and there can be an equilibrium between matter and void.
Lucretius starts the poem by assuming the opposite, what if nothing can come from something. To prove his hypothesis he explains an unbelievable counterfactual situation, “Consider: if things could be made from nothing, there would be no such thing as the cycle of generation, you could breed men from the sea, and

He answers his own question by saying “But if, in the space of past and the time gone by, there have always been elements ready for re-confection, they are by nature immortal, that is certain and that is why they cannot return to nothing” (3) He disputes that the universe was not created, but has existed forever. If organisms can die and fade away, why has this not happened to the universe yet? If nature sanctioned total annihilation, any given thing could disappear into nothing instantly. The merest touch would destroy an object, however this is not the case. For example, one throws an apple into a field. The apple becomes food for animals and the remains decompose overtime creating fertilizer to nourish the grass. This proves that nothing can resolve into nothing because there is a cycle of life in the world. Things revert to their common elements and things replenish one

Matter being the visible bodies, and void being the invisible bodies. Empty space exists in everything that we can see and touch. Without void, motion would be impossible and nothing could ever change or begin. Lucretius states, “Then, if there were no such thing as empty space, everything would be solid; on the other hand, if there were not bodies which filled up all the space they occupied so that nothing else could intrude, the universe would be nothing but emptiness”(7). For where there is space there cannot be body, and where there is body there cannot be void. However it is evident that there is unoccupied space because we can move freely. Matter presses everything down, while the void is to be without weight. This is why a lump of wood and lead have the same volume, but different