On the last episode, we discussed the ideas of the pre-Socratic philosophers. Their ideas and metaphysical concepts had a large influence on the next generation of philosophers, including the man considered to be the founder of western philosophy, Socrates. Socrates's work and his personal approach to philosophy forever changed the world and the altered the thinking of all those who followed him. Among Socrates's followers was another of the great Greek philosophers, Plato. Plato incorporated many of Socrates's ideas, along with those of numerous pre-Socratic philosophers, into his own philosophical framework, which was taught to his students at an Athenian school known as the Academy. Among Plato's students was a man named Aristotle whose ideas would revolutionize the way people investigated the natural world, the universe, and their own existence. His ideas were so powerful and important that they were essential to the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment that occurred almost 2,000 years after his death. So please, listen in while we continue learning about the origin story of the modern scientific method.

P.S.: I know I said I'd be releasing episodes every other Friday and it's only been one week. But the first episode has such a good reception, I couldn't wait to get the second one out. Enjoy!

Welcome to the very first episode of From Alchemy to Atoms! In this episode, you'll learn about the origins of scientific thought rooted in the ideas of the pre-Socratic philosophers. These ancient Greek philosophers rejected supernatural explanations for natural phenomena and developed many of the fundamental principles that are still present in modern mathematics and science. The ideas first proposed by the pre-Socratic philosophers heavily influenced Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and by extension, all of western thought. And if that isn't interesting enough for you, you'll learn that Pythagoras, the triangle dude, was the leader of a mathematics-based vegetarian cult.