SOURCE: John Burnet, "The Ionians," in Greek Philosophy: Thales to Plato, Part I, Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1920, pp. 17-36

In the following excerpt, Burnet examines Anaximander's scientific system in relation to later ancient and early modern cosmological models.

[The] generation of the Milesian school [after Thales] is represented by Anaximander. We are on surer ground with regard to his doctrines; for he wrote a book which was extant in the time of Theophrastos and later. It is probable that it was the first Greek book written in prose, and it may be noted here that Ionic prose was the regular medium of philosophical and scientific writing. Two Greek philosophers, Parmenides and Empedokles, wrote in verse at a later date, but that was quite exceptional, and due to causes we can still to some extent trace. Anaximander was also the first cartographer, and this connects him with his younger...