Scientific Method

Scientific Method

Thales of Miletus (624-546 B.C.) was the first to suggest a single material substratum for the universe--namely water or moisture. His cosmology proposes that all objects in the universe are composed of water. His choice of water as the component building block of all matter may have been due to the apparent motion of bodies of water and the conversion of water to vapor and back.

Anaximander of Miletus (610-545 B.C.) was the foremost student of Thales. He denied Thales claim that water was the basic matter of the universe, stating instead that the world was derived from apeiron (meaning "unlimited"). The state of apeiron preceeded the separation into other qualities, such as hot and cold or wet and dry , and thus represents the primitive unity of all things.

Anaximenes of Miletus was a student of Thales and Anaximander. He, however, proposed "aer" as the component matter of the universe. He believed that when aer was evenly distributed it was the air of the atmosphere, and as it condensed it became mist, water, and eventually other solid matter. If aer was rarefied it became fire.

The progression of ideas from Thales to Anaximenes, held by Aristotle to be the fathers of philosophy, shows a sequence of refinements in the beliefs regarding the nature of the universe. Though no modern scientists would suscribe to their theories regarding the nature of the basic constituents of matter, they illustrate the process of refining previous theories in l...