Aristotle Research Paper

Julie McCarthy

Mr. Corso

Astronomy

January 16th, 2018

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist who was from Stagira, a town in northern Greece. Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great, and was known as “The First Teacher” in the west. Some of the areas he researched and taught included biology, metaphysics, psychology, and zoology. Aristotle is considered one of the greatest philosophers because of his teacher, Plato. Aristotle contributed to society by thinking that the movements of the planets and stars must be circular, that the earth is a sphere and his thoughts on the atomic theory. Aristotle was born in Stagira in 384 B.C. to Nicomachus, and Phaestis. When Aristotle was a young child, both of his

This observation was also based on Plato’s thoughts. Since Aristotle was his student, he believed what Plato told him. After Aristotle believed Plato’s theory, it became a dominant theory. Aristotle made another observation by looking at the constellations in the sky and he realized they began traveling further and further away from the equator. His other theory on why the earth is a sphere is that the shadow of the earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse is round. Aristotle additionally took in the thought of the north star. The farther you travel, the closer the north star goes to the middle of the sky. Aristotle’s theories could not be proven and many people of his time did not believe him. Aristotle did not care and declared that the earth is a sphere. The way we proved these theories actually come from Aristotle’s observations. We did not need any technology to prove these theories as they are common sense. Some other ways we proved the earth is not flat is because of shadows, looking at other planets, time zones, the gravitational pull, and of course pictures from

His theory of biology is grounded in systematic observation and collections of data. Many of his observations that help contribute to biology were made on the island of Lesbos where he stayed for a period of time. He especially took a liking to marine biology and the observations of the lagoon that was there. Aristotle’s biology is derived from his theory of form which is also derived from Plato’s theory of forms. After hearing Plato’s view, Aristotle developed it into a set of three biological ideas. The Greek word εἶδος pertained to the characteristics of animals, he used γένος to mean a kind. An example of this is with a dog, a dog has fur, a snout, paws, and warm-blood. There are also many kinds of dogs, retriever, labrador, shepherd, collie, and many more. Aristotle’s example included a bird and its many forms. Aristotle also points out that humans are like this. We are all different individuals who have different characteristics but we all have the same human form. He also says that a child does not take a form but they are a mix of forms. Since they are a mix of their parents, they are a mix of