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c. 610 - 546 BC
Anaximander was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He lived in Miletus, a city of Ionia or modern-day Turkey.
He learned the teaching of his master Thales. He succeeded Thales as master at the Milesian school. Anaximenes and possibly Pythagoras were his pupils.
We do not know much of the life and work of Anaximander. According to some, he is the first philosopher to have written down his studies. Only one fragment of his work remains.
He was an early proponent of science. He tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe. He had particular interest in the origin of the universe itself. He claimed that nature is ruled by laws, just like a human society. Anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long. Anaximander's philosophy spans many disciplines. In astronomy, he attempted to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth.
The apeiron was also central to the cosmology of Anaximander. He believed that the beginning or ultimate reality or arche was infinite or boundless, apeiron. It would not be subject to old age or decay. This way of thinking led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction.
His knowledge of geometry allowed him to introduce the gnomon in Greece. This was the part of the sundial that casts shadows.
He also created a map of the world, contributing to the science of geography.
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