Anaximander
From Philosopedia
Anaximander (610—547 B.C.E.)
A pupil as well as companion of Thales, Anaximander was, like him, an astronomer, geographer, and physicist, seeking for a first principle (for which he may or may not have invented the name). He rejected the idea of a single primordial element, such as water. He affirmed an infinite material cause, without beginning and indestructible, with an infinite number of worlds. And, showing a Chaldean impulse, he speculated on the ascent of man from something aquatic, as well as on the form and motion of the earth (figured by him as a cylinder), the nature and motions of the solar system, and thunder and lightning.
His doctrine of evolution, remarked Robertson, “stands out for us today like the fragment of a great ruin, hinting obscurely of a line of active thinkers.” Further, he believed that only in the Mesopotamian world could the early evolution have taken place.
According to Diogenes, Anaximandros invented the gnomon, the first map and globe, and one of the first clocks.
Bertrand Russell, in The History of Western Philosophy, wrote about Anaximander's asserting the necessity of an appropriate balance between earth, fire, and water elements, all independently seeking to aggrandize their proportions relative to the others. He was expressing his belief that a natural order ensures balance between these elements, that where there was fire, ashes (earth) now exist. He was, therefore, saying that not even their gods could operate beyond.
The asteroid 60006 is named after Anaximandros.
