Anaxagoras (510 BC-428 BC) was a Presocratic Greek philosopher and the first philosopher to bring philosophy to Athens. He notably described the world as a mixture of primary imperishable ingredients, arguing that "everything contains everything, but the relative proportions differ."
Biography[]
Anaxagoras was born in Clazomenae, Ionia, Achaemenid Empire in 510 BC to a Greek family. He enjoyed some wealth and political influence in his town, and he went to Athens in 464 BC after giving up his money and power, which he felt would hinder his search for knowledge. He remained there for thirty years, and Pericles grew to admire him. He was the first to bring philosophy and scientific inquiry to Athens, and he even predicted the impact of a meteor. Anaxagoras argued that all things have existed in some way since the beginning, but that they existed in very small fragments of themselves, endless in number and inextricably combined throughout the universe; he believed that everything existed in mass. Anaxagoras was later judged at the Bouleuterion of Athens and charged with impiety, being exiled to Lampsacus. However, these charges were owing to his association with the deposed ruler Pericles. He died from starvation in 428 BC.