A New Way of Thinking

Abstract

Early civilizations relied on religion and mythology to explain the world that they lived in. The idea that celestial motions and the structure of the Universe are governed by natural processes that can be understood by rational thinking was pioneered by the Greeks. The first major figure to explore this concept was Thales of Miletus (625–545 B.C.). He was followed by his two disciples Anaximander (610–546 B.C.) and Anaximenes (585–528 B.C.). From observations of the apparent daily horizon-to-horizon trajectories of the Sun and the stars, Anaximander hypothesized that the Sun and stars move in complete circles, and they continue to move beneath the Earth even when they can no longer be seen. He, therefore, deduced that the Earth must be a free-floating, isolated object in space (Sect. 4.3, Vol. 1). This process of observations, summary of patterns, formulation of a hypothesis, and prediction of a new conclusion, formed the basis of the scientific way of thinking.