22 SCIENCE IN GRECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY 



amongst all these thinkers, a certain community of 

 ideas, in that they did not clearly distinguish between 

 spirit and matter. The natural philosophers of Ionia, 

 like Heraclitus, attributed spiritual properties to 

 matter, and the Pythagoreans considered numbers as 

 having perceptible and even moral qualities. The 

 differences of opinion, however, rapidly became more 

 and more accentuated. The Eleatic school, which was 

 inspired by the speculations of Pythagoras, tended 

 towards idealism ; whilst the new Ionian school, whose 

 last representatives were Leucippus and Democritus, 

 enunciated the theories of the atomic philosophy and 

 prepared the way for materialism. 



1. IONIA AND ASIA MINOR 



The ancient philosophy of Ionia is often given the 

 name of Hylozoism. Its chief characteristic is the 

 inseparable connection between matter and life, every 

 material element having life and reciprocally. There- 

 fore, the discovery of the fundamental material ele- 

 ment is sufficient to explain all reality. 



Amongst the representatives of this school may be 

 pointed out, on the one hand, Thales, Anaximander, 

 Anaximenes, and, on the other, Heraclitus, whose 

 ideas remain of fundamental importance to philosophy, 

 but of little interest to the history of science. 1 



In the seventh century before our era, Miletus 

 still enjoyed her political independence, and kept up 

 a flourishing commercial connection with Egypt and 

 Babylon. It was in this town that Thales lived 

 (about 624-548 B.C.). According to tradition, he made 

 his fortune by selling salt ; but he also used other 

 means : one year, foreseeing an abundant harvest, he 



1 25 Tannery, Science hellene, pp. 52-200. — 8 Burnet, Aurore, 

 pp. 37-85, 145-194. — 17 Loria, Scienze esatte.ipp. 11-25. — 22 a 

 Robin, Pensee grecque, pp. 41-56, 86-94. 



