Anaximander was the replacement of Thales, the first philosopher. He is very important in philosophy for he began the steps the scientific paradigm would follow all the way up to modern times. He built maps and led colonies during his life, and his use of logic was among the best of his time.
Anaximander followed Thales stating everything comes from a type of matter, but he did not agree with Thales that it was water. He believed that everything came from one place, and after we lived, everything went back to that same place. This place he was speaking of, he called, the “Undefined Something” He used the idea of opposites to understand what something was really, and believed balance was the natural state of being. Thus objects are formed in the indefinable, and then after death, returned back to the indefinable. (The Greeks, Kitto h, 1985, p180)
Anaximander was the first Cartographer and drew the first recorded map of the world. His view was unlike Thales who stated the earth was flat and floated on water; in contrast he stated the earth hangs in space, and is the center of the universe. He led an expedition to Apollina, and successfully created a colony there. (History of Philosophy: Coplestone f, 1946, p24)
Anaximander used logic and observation to understand his theories. His studies on the Smooth Skin Shark through observation and logic, led to his idea that man was descended from fish, and that all life began in water, but evolved as water evaporated. He observed that man had to long of a suckling period as a baby, to have survived in the wild, thus we must have come from something else. This use of observation and reason in his day was the beginning of science as we understand it today. (The Greeks, Kitto h, 1985, p181)
Anaximander was one of the forefathers of Greek philosophy. His dedication, understanding, and logic helped shape classic philosophy in Greece, and his use of oppositions like Thales, became an accepted theory in his day. His studies of the Smooth Shark a fish with some mammalian properties led him to believe all life originated with water, and that man was a fish earlier in his history. His use of logic and observation helped formulate the scientific theories we are so used to today. He was a true pioneer philosopher.
REFERENCES:
Anaximander of Miletus: http://www.philosophy.gr/presocratics/anaximander.htm