Ancient Thoughts

The Greeks had many intriguing ideas about physics in their attempt to explain what was happening in the world around them. They were enamored with elegant mathematics, and some scholars, including Plato, believed that the truth of this world lies in geometry. They saw beauty in Euclidean geometry and Platonic solids, which they thought could be used to describe nature as a whole. While most of their work on mathematics was ages ahead of its time, their physics was not at the same level. Aristotle, for example, believed that rocks fall downwards because they like being on the ground. Among all possible states, he affirmed, being on the ground is the one that rocks enjoyed most. Consequently, he went on to explain, rocks fall faster as they approach the ground because they are happy to be nearer to their natural and preferred resting place ¹ .