Abstract
Historians point to a defined period, place, and person where began the ascent of man toward an empowering understanding of his world.1 The period was the 6th century bc. The place was Miletus on the Aegean Sea in greater Greece, and the person was Thales. In the 6th century before the birth of Christ, Thales of Miletus forged the first Ionian revolution and began dispelling the illusions of knowledge embodied in Greek mythology. No longer would myth unchallenged provide an acceptable explanation of natural phenomena. No longer would Hesiod’s accounts of the Greek Gods—Chaos, Gaea (Earth), and Eros (Desire); and of Gaea’s giving birth to the Heavens (Uranus), the Mountains, and the Sea (Pontus)—satisfy the desire for understanding nature.
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(2006). The Pilgrimage: Highlights in Our Understanding of the Products and Components of Living Organisms. In: What Sustains Life?. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-4562-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-4562-5_3
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Boston
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