Aristotle and the Founding of Biology
Overview
In addition to his great reputation as a philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) is also regarded as the father of biology and the first ecologist. Despite that fact that his observations on biology, astronomy, and physics comprise the vast majority of his writings, Aristotle gets much more respect for his contributions to ethics, politics, and moral philosophy.
Aristotle offered an all-encompassing system for finding the meaning of reality through the senses. His curiosity about the world of living things and his attempts to fit these into a comprehensive system is unrivaled. Indeed, Aristotle laid the groundwork for the formulation of the scientific method.
Background
Aristotle's influence on the founding of biology was closely tied to the conjunction of several factors. First, as the son of a physician of the medical guild of Asclepius, he had the privilege of being in the court at Pella in Macedonia. His father encouraged him to study biology and to develop investigative techniques, which would prove useful to science. Second, at age 17 he went to Athens and enrolled at Plato's Academy to study the philosophy of idealism. AlthoughAristotle held Plato (427?-347 B.C.) in high esteem, he did break with him in later life to form his own school based on realism and observation through the senses.
