elements are immerged into the fifth principle, the Quintessence or Aether, which
perennially rests above the terrestrial sublunary world.
As always in the history of science and philosophy, every idea triggers the
appearance of its contrary. Thus, the concept of element had a counter idea: maybe
there are no elements, and no transformations at all. For Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (510–428 B.C.) elements are unnecessary categories, there is only an
initial sense of the world, the nous (mot1). This concept is similar to the logos
(koco1), the primordial word, the initial structure, and the first step in the creation
of the Universe. By Anaxagoras, the Universum emerges from the eternal quietude
by an action of the disturbation, the spermata. Spontaneous fluctuations are indeed
among the basic a priori heuristic ideas also in modern science. For Parmenides of
Elea (nearly 515–450 B.C.) there are no changes, no transformations. There is only
a deep essence of all things, their Being, the onthos, omso1. As we know, the
investigation of the essence of the substance, the ontology, is in the core of science.
On the other hand, the structure as a pattern by which the world could be
recognized and analysed in its various appearances, belongs to higher levels of
complexity. In principle, there are two viewpoints on the structure of matter: the
substance is continuous, and the substance is discrete, i.e. discontinuous, composed
from the arbitrary number of some basic units.
The problem of discrete/continuous structure of matter is one of the most vigorously discussed concept in science and philosophy that lasts untill the modern
times. By Anaxagoras, the substance is continuous and infinitely divisible. The
same idea in its radical form has advocated Aristotle in his lectures in Athens’
Lykeion (Ktjeiom, established 335 B.C.). Aristotle affords:
Things are continuous when any of two neighbours on their boundary become one body,
and, as follows, they are in conjunction.
Thus, the substance is fulfilled and indivisible, there is no empty space and no
separated entities. All is melted in each other. Aristotelean idea about the structure
remains unclear; it seems that the substance consists from two components, stuff,
hyle (tkη), and properties, which the substance can obtain only if a being, otria,
is added to it. Such a concept in which the properties are considered as the
categories separated from the substance has for a long time been in focus of
chemical philosophy.
The idea about the discrete, discontinuous structure of the world is as old as the
idea about the continuous structure. Natural and rational numbers as the abstract
building blocks of the world were in the basis of the doctrine of Pythagoras (582–
496 B.C.). Though the discrete structure of the matter has explicitly proposed by
Democritus of Abdera (460–370 B.C.), and Leucippus of Miletus (first half of 5
Century B.C.). By their opinion, the substance cannot be divided ad infinitum, but
only till the smallest basic particles, the atoms (asolo1), which are characterized by
some elemental attributes related to the macroscopic sensuous properties of the
24
2 Perceptions, Experiments and Principles
perennially rests above the terrestrial sublunary world.
As always in the history of science and philosophy, every idea triggers the
appearance of its contrary. Thus, the concept of element had a counter idea: maybe
there are no elements, and no transformations at all. For Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (510–428 B.C.) elements are unnecessary categories, there is only an
initial sense of the world, the nous (mot1). This concept is similar to the logos
(koco1), the primordial word, the initial structure, and the first step in the creation
of the Universe. By Anaxagoras, the Universum emerges from the eternal quietude
by an action of the disturbation, the spermata. Spontaneous fluctuations are indeed
among the basic a priori heuristic ideas also in modern science. For Parmenides of
Elea (nearly 515–450 B.C.) there are no changes, no transformations. There is only
a deep essence of all things, their Being, the onthos, omso1. As we know, the
investigation of the essence of the substance, the ontology, is in the core of science.
On the other hand, the structure as a pattern by which the world could be
recognized and analysed in its various appearances, belongs to higher levels of
complexity. In principle, there are two viewpoints on the structure of matter: the
substance is continuous, and the substance is discrete, i.e. discontinuous, composed
from the arbitrary number of some basic units.
The problem of discrete/continuous structure of matter is one of the most vigorously discussed concept in science and philosophy that lasts untill the modern
times. By Anaxagoras, the substance is continuous and infinitely divisible. The
same idea in its radical form has advocated Aristotle in his lectures in Athens’
Lykeion (Ktjeiom, established 335 B.C.). Aristotle affords:
Things are continuous when any of two neighbours on their boundary become one body,
and, as follows, they are in conjunction.
Thus, the substance is fulfilled and indivisible, there is no empty space and no
separated entities. All is melted in each other. Aristotelean idea about the structure
remains unclear; it seems that the substance consists from two components, stuff,
hyle (tkη), and properties, which the substance can obtain only if a being, otria,
is added to it. Such a concept in which the properties are considered as the
categories separated from the substance has for a long time been in focus of
chemical philosophy.
The idea about the discrete, discontinuous structure of the world is as old as the
idea about the continuous structure. Natural and rational numbers as the abstract
building blocks of the world were in the basis of the doctrine of Pythagoras (582–
496 B.C.). Though the discrete structure of the matter has explicitly proposed by
Democritus of Abdera (460–370 B.C.), and Leucippus of Miletus (first half of 5
Century B.C.). By their opinion, the substance cannot be divided ad infinitum, but
only till the smallest basic particles, the atoms (asolo1), which are characterized by
some elemental attributes related to the macroscopic sensuous properties of the
24
2 Perceptions, Experiments and Principles