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'Kanada' (also transliterated as 'Kanad' and in other ways; Sanskrit 'कणाद') was a Hindu sage who founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika. He is considered as the father of Atom theory^[1]. He talked of Dvyanuka (biatomic molecule) and tryanuka (triatomic molecule) He probably lived around 600 BCE according to some accounts. It is believed that he was born in Prabhas Kshetra (near Dwaraka) in Gujarat, India. His area of study was Rasavādam, considered to be a type of alchemy. In his text, the ''Vaisheshik Darshana'', he describes an atomic theory more than a century before Democritus developed one in ancient Greece. He believed that all objects were composed of nine elements: earth, water, light, wind, ether, time, space, mind and soul. He theorised that Gurutva (gravitation) was responsible for the falling of objects on the Earth.
Vaiseshika is one of the six orthodox (vedic) schools of Indian philosophy, usually paired with Nyaya, another of those six.

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1. http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/bs_2/bs_2-2-02.html