why do we use greek letters in science
Greek letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering Greek letters are used in mathematics, science, engineering, and other areas where mathematical notation is used as symbols for constants, special functions, and also conventionally for variables representing certain quantities. In these contexts, the capital letters and the small letters represent distinct and unrelated entities. Those Greek letters which have the same form as Latin letters are rarely used: capital A, B, E, Z, H, I, K, M, N, O, P, T, Y, X. Small ι, ο and υ are also rarely used, since they closely resemble the Latin letters i, o and u. Sometimes font variants of Greek letters are used as distinct symbols in mathematics, in particular for ε/ϵ and π/ϖ. The archaic letter digamma (Ϝ/ϝ/ϛ) is sometimes used.
Atom The idea that matter is made up of discrete units is a very old idea, appearing in many ancient cultures such as Greece and India. The word "atom" (Greek: ἄτομος; atomos), meaning "uncuttable", was coined by the ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus and his pupil Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC).[1][2][3][4] Democritus taught that atoms were infinite in number, uncreated, and eternal, and that the qualities of an object result from the kind of atoms that compose it.[2][3][4] Democritus's atomism was refined and elaborated by the later philosopher Epicurus (341 – 270 BC).[3][4] During the Early Middle Ages, atomism was mostly forgotten in western Europe, but survived among some groups of Islamic philosophers.[3] During the twelfth century, atomism became known again in western Europe through references to it in the newly-rediscovered writings of Aristotle.[3]