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ASTRONOMER, PHYSICIST
HERACLEITUS OF EPHESUS (fl. 540 - 480 BC)
Life
Little is known of Heracleitus, beyond the facts that he was a native of Ephesus, that his father's name was Blyson, and that he studied the works of Homer, Xenophanes, Thales, Pythagoras and Hecataeus. He is cited by Stobaeus.
Work
His major work is:
"On nature": 129 fragments of this work (written in 478 BC) survive, mainly incorporated into the works of later writers. Expanding on the teachings of earlier philosophers, principally those of the Milesian School (Thales, Anaximander, Anaxixmenes), Heracleitus held fire to be the primary substance of the universe, transmuting into many different forms without ever losing its identity. He claimed that "all things are in a state of change", and that matter is created by "compression out of energy". His writings embrace ethics, philosophy, physics and astronomy. Fragments of his work are found in Plato, Aristotle and Theophrastus.
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