Читать книгу 2,637 Years of Physics from Thales of Miletos to the Modern Era - Sheldon Cohen - Страница 8

disputed both Thales and Anaximander, and suggested that air was the primary building block from which all else was created. Here we see another educated, for the times, wild guess. Anaximenes reasoned that since air was continuously in motion, it was life. In a state of even dispersal it presents itself as the air we breathe. In a condensed state it presents as mist, then as water, and finally as solid matter, the density of which depends upon the degree of condensation. Air, he felt, was one aspect of a series of changes from fire to air to wind to cloud to water to earth to stones. He attempted to confirm his thesis by simple experimental observation such as blowing on his hand with lips open widely and with pursed lips. In the first instance the air is warm. In the second instance the air is cold. This suggested that air is warm when rarified and cold when concentrated.

Anaximenes’ thesis that natural processes are responsible for the formation and change taking place in our world was an important development in the evolution of scientific thought. His contribution was to be the first to suggest a theory and try to prove it by thoughtful observation. At least this was a step in the right direction. Anaximenes had expanded this centuries old thesis. Others would soon enter the fray, such as….