490?-570

Byzantine Scholar

Known also as Johannes Philoponus and John the Grammarian, the Byzantine scholar John Philoponus wrote on a variety of subjects, from theology to physics. Most notable among his writings was his critique of Aristotle's ideas regarding motion: whereas his great predecessor had incorrectly maintained that a body in motion requires a continued application of force to remain in motion, Philoponus held that a body will keep moving in the absence of friction or opposition.

Philoponus grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, where he studied under Ammonius Hermiae (fl. c. 550), a well-known commentator on the ideas of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). As a student, Philoponus was one of the first to attempt a synthesis between Aristotelian thought and Western spiritual beliefs. Later other thinkers—including the Christian Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274), and before him the Muslim Ibn Rushd (Averroës; 1126-1198) and the Jew Moses Maimonides...