Anaximenes

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/anaximenes

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Where was Anaximenes born?Miletus, Ionia
2. What is Anaximenes known for?Provided a naturalistic mechanism for material transformation
3. What is the approximate period of activity?Mid-6th century BCE
4. What is the philosophical school?Milesian School (Pre-Socratic)
5. What did Anaximenes think everything was made of?He believed that all things were made of air.
6. How did Anaximenes explain how air becomes different things?He said air can condense, becoming denser and cooling, to form wind, clouds, water, earth, and stone. Air can also rarefy, spreading out and heating, to create fire.

Arche: The fundamental, primordial substance or principle from which all things are derived.
Condensation: The process by which a substance becomes denser and often cooler, leading to transformation into a more solid state.
Rarefaction: The process by which a substance becomes less dense and often hotter, leading to transformation into a more gaseous or fiery state.
Monism: The philosophical view that reality is composed of only one fundamental substance or principle.