History of Philosophy

Pre-Socratic, Milesian. Rejected supernatural explanations, aimed to find naturalistic answers using reason and argument. All things made of water. Brought geometry from Egypt to Greece.

Pre-Socratic, Milesian. Student of Thales. All things made of a neutral primal substance (apeiron), which is infinite, eternal and ageless. Rejected Thales on the grounds that water - if primal - would conquer everything.

Pre-Socratic, Milesian. Student of Anaximander. Fundamental substance is air. When compacted, air becomes water, then earth, then stone. Rarified air yields fire. The soul is made of air.

http://www.livius.org/a/1/greeks/parmenides_velia_jan.jpg

Pre-Socratic, Ionian. Sun and stars are fiery stones - he got sentenced to death for this, but escaped. Correct theory of eclipses. Four elements, everything is infinitely divisible. Mind (nous) is the substance that distinguishes living things from dead matter. Probably atheist.