Evidence of the major philosophical schools of thought (Stoicism and Epicureanism) are evident in several areas of his mechanical texts. Epicureanism focused on describing the world in terms of indivisible atoms and a void. Interactions and recycling of these atoms in the void of the universe is what they believed makes up the Earth and its constituents. While controversial at the time, the epicurean atomist views are used by Vitruvius in explaining the different forms of matter and their creation to be used in building. Concrete was an invention by the Romans that put them steps ahead of everyone else in terms of building strength and efficiency. De Architectura book II explains the mixtures of substances used in the creation of concrete such as lime and sand as particles and not as continuous substances such as a stoic might. Furthermore, when Vitruvius discusses the formation of lime from stone he mentions how the expansion of the particles making up the stone expand with heat, and take on water into its pores (void). In discussing the formation of proper bricks, Vitruvius details how a brick improperly dried will shrink in the summer due to the loss of water and the shrinking of the clay particles into the void left. He also mentions the property of density as the epicureans do; a brick will lose a third of its weight while remaining the same size because the water has left it, and there is now void instead. These principles of atoms and void are also used in the description of air and water pressure
Evidence of the major philosophical schools of thought (Stoicism and Epicureanism) are evident in several areas of his mechanical texts. Epicureanism focused on describing the world in terms of indivisible atoms and a void. Interactions and recycling of these atoms in the void of the universe is what they believed makes up the Earth and its constituents. While controversial at the time, the epicurean atomist views are used by Vitruvius in explaining the different forms of matter and their creation to be used in building. Concrete was an invention by the Romans that put them steps ahead of everyone else in terms of building strength and efficiency. De Architectura book II explains the mixtures of substances used in the creation of concrete such as lime and sand as particles and not as continuous substances such as a stoic might. Furthermore, when Vitruvius discusses the formation of lime from stone he mentions how the expansion of the particles making up the stone expand with heat, and take on water into its pores (void). In discussing the formation of proper bricks, Vitruvius details how a brick improperly dried will shrink in the summer due to the loss of water and the shrinking of the clay particles into the void left. He also mentions the property of density as the epicureans do; a brick will lose a third of its weight while remaining the same size because the water has left it, and there is now void instead. These principles of atoms and void are also used in the description of air and water pressure