What is the world and everything in it made
of? Galaxies, stars, planets, people, rocks, where did all
this stuff come from? How can we
know? These are the fundamental questions that we will study in the next two weeks. As we
investigate the material composition of the world, we'll find very deep clues about the nature of
reality and what we can and cannot
know about it.
Everyone wonders at some point in life about the origin of all things. This rock, for example,
where did it come from? What is it made of? Why is it so different from a living thing? It's
amazing to think that the material composition of th
e world was actually the first question asked
in philosophy. Thales of Miletus, in about 650 BCE, changed the way people thought about the
world. Instead of saying that God or different gods made everything in nature, he tried to
understand nature from wit
hin nature, offering rational answers to describe the physical nature of
reality.
