Anaximander was a Greek philosopher who is credited with being the first philosopher to write down his ideas. Anaximander was born in the year 610 BC in modern day Turkey. He studied under the philosopher Thales, who lived in the same area. Thales is considered one of the "Seven Sages of Greece" and Aristotle referred to him as "the first philosopher" which make Anaximander one of the first proliferators of Western Philosophy.
Although not much is known of his personal life, his ideas live on through the writings of philosophers who succeeded him. Much of the information we have on Anaximander today was passed down by Aristotle and Theophrastus. Aristotle claimed Anaximander was interested in defining the "boundless" and understanding the origin of life. Anaximander was searching for the root cause of all things and is one of the earliest proponents of science. Anaximander studied nature and the movements of the planets in relation to the Earth. He is also credited with creating the first map of the world.
All of Anaximander's theories were based on the principle of the Apeiron. The Apeiron was a term he used to describe the infinite, limitless or unbounded principle of nature. This substance is said to be the basis of all things and the creator of all life. The Apeiron was not a physical thing, but rather the source and foundation of all things. This substance was said to be formless and limitless. Anaximander's attempt at defining this primordial substance laid the foundation for all philosophers who followed him. This could be seen as the first attempt at defining and describing "God."
Anaximander is also credited with studying astronomy and attempting to describe the nature of the cosmos. He believed that the world was flat and that the Sun and Moon were disks with an eternal fire burning through the center. Anaximander was correct in some of his astrological ideas. He was the first to claim that the planets make full circles around the Earth and that Earth floats unsupported in space. These ideas were profound at the time and set the basis for the modern understanding of the Universe.
