Biography

Anaximander was born around 610 B.C., and died around 540 B.C. He lived in the Ionian city of Miletus. Ionia was the pinnacle of western civilization around Anaximander's time. It's many trade routes brought it into constant contact with many different cultures, such as the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians. The Milesian school is one of the first examples of western philosophy and science. The Milesian school determined that the world is a natural place, rather than the supernatural world mythology suggests. The Milesians believed that everything in nature could be understood by scientific observation. The questions the Milesians most sought after were what was the basic unit of matter, how did the world come to exist, and how did life evolve. Anaximander was a pupil of Thales, the first well known milesian. After Anaximander comes Anaximenes, and then the history of the Milesian school becomes fuzzy.