Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras, a distinguished Greek philosopher of the Ionic school, who was born at Clazomenas about 500 B.C., and died at Lampsacus in 428 B.C. He established himself at Athens and counted amongst his pupils there Pericles, Euripides, Archelaus, and possibly Socrates. Carrying forward the speculations of Thales, Heraclitus, and Enipedocles as to the physical origin and constitution of the universe, he seems to have held that the combinations of material elements necessary to form all existing substances must have required the operation of a Supreme Intelligence. He is also said to have believed the sun to be a mass of burning matter from which the other heavenly bodies derive light and heat, and to have known how to calculate eclipses. The Athenians, alarmed at his views, condemned him to death, but owing to the influence of Pericles he was allowed to go into exile.