A Eterna Busca do Indivisível: do Átomo Filosófico aos Quarks e Léptons The eternal search for the indivisible: from philosophical atom to quarks and leptons

Abstract

The fascinating search of the inner boundaries of the Universe, has been entangled, since the birth of greek philosophy 25 centuries ago, with the main epistemological changes in the History of Science. This paper does not intend to present a systematic description of the discovery of the elementary particles. By stressing the main achievements of the knowledge of matter's structure and their dependence on symmetry arguments, it is argued that even considering profound differences in each historical period, there is a paradgima of atom shared by Chemistry and Particle Physics. This text could help High School Teachers of Chemistry and Physics, as well as motivate them, in the challenge of explaining to their pupils how the idea of atom evolved.

Keywords

• elementary particles
• atoms
• quarks
• leptons