Aristotle

Born in Stagiros in northern Greece, he attended the Academy of Plato. After Plato’s death in 347, Aristotle became a wanderer, and in 342 took a position as tutor to Alexander, son of King Philip of Macedon. As a philosopher and natural scientist, Aristotle is considered one of the most important figures in history, and was probably the last person who could have known the sum total of his culture’s knowledge. A prolific writer, he originated the breaking down of knowledge into separate fields and wrote on almost all of them. After Alexander took the Macedonian throne, Aristotle retired to Athens and later Euboea, where he died.