Anaximander

Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610–546 BCE) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a member of the Milesian school and a pupil of Thales. He is regarded as one of the earliest thinkers to seek natural explanations for the world rather than relying on myth or divine intervention. His ideas helped lay the groundwork for scientific and philosophical inquiry in ancient Greece.

One of Anaximander’s most enduring contributions is the concept of the apeiron, the indefinite or boundless principle from which all things arise and to which they return. The apeiron is eternal and sources the processes that generate order and change in the cosmos. From it emerge opposites, such as hot and cold, and complex structures over time grow from these interactions.

In cosmology, Anaximander proposed a naturalistic view of the heavens and the earth. He held that the Earth is a free-floating body in space, not supported by anything, with celestial bodies moving in regular paths around it. He attempted to explain various phenomena—such as weather and astronomical events—in terms of natural processes rather than mythic causes. He also made early contributions to meteorology and geography, and is credited with creating one of the earliest known maps of the inhabited world.

Literary remains of Anaxander’s work survive only as fragments quoted by later authors. The treatise traditionally associated with him is titled On Nature, but it is lost and known primarily through later references. He is regarded as a crucial figure in the Milesian tradition, influencing successors such as Anaximenes and shaping the shift toward rational inquiry in ancient philosophy.