Aristotle was the son of Nicomachus, who traced back and his art to Machaon, son of Aesculapius, later became court physician to King Amyntas III of Macedon; his mother being Phaestis, a descendent of one of those who carried the colony from Chalcis to Stagira.
At the age of seventeen Aristotle to travels to Athens, the center of learning in the Greek world and there he became a pupil of the philosopher Plato for some twenty years. These two decades formed the first great phase of his intellectual career.
Later he made his way to the court of Philip II of Macedon where he became the principle tutor of young Alexander, soon to be conqueror of the world.
In 335 Aristotle founded his own school at the Lyceum, a meeting place and gymnasium named in honor of the god Apollo Lyceus. He only emphasized natural science in his school and accepted only observations as the source of knowledge.
For the next 12 years he was occupied in the organization of the school as an abode for the prosecution of speculation and research in every department of inquiry, and in the composition of numerous courses of lectures ins scientific and philosophical question.
Aristotle had pondered a variety of beliefs bearing on the known universe; in his judgment, these were mostly myths.
One theory Aristotle attributed was that the sea was warmed and evaporated by the sun. The water vapor then cooled and fell as rain.
Aristotle died at the age of 62 at Chalcis in Euboea.
Aristotle
