This document discusses the history of the atomic theory of matter. It explains that ancient Indian and Greek philosophers proposed that matter is divisible into smaller and smaller particles. Democritus named these indivisible particles "atoms." John Dalton later formalized the atomic theory in 1808, postulating that all matter is composed of atoms, atoms are identical for a given element but differ between elements, and atoms can be combined or rearranged but not created or destroyed. The document concludes that elements are substances made of only one type of atom and presently 118 elements have been discovered, with 90 occurring naturally.