You are right to put "knew" in quotes, as Democritus' speculation had no more support than Thales' "all is water", the four elements, the bodily humors or the c

You are right to put "knew" in quotes, as Democritus' speculation had no more support than Thales' "all is water", the four elements, the bodily humors or the celestial spheres. Knowledge lies at least as much in the justification of a fact as it does in the proposition itself.