Diogenes of Apollonia

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Diogenes of Apollonia (dīŏj´ənēz ăpəlō´nēə), 5th cent. BC, Greek philosopher. An eclectic, he reverted to the Milesian tradition of a century earlier in seeking to explain the constitution of all matter in terms of a single basic stuff. He believed, with Anaximenes, that this substance was air and, with Anaxagoras, that a principle of intelligence, or Nous, was responsible for governing and diffusing air. Some of Diogenes' extensive work in physiology was preserved by Aristotle.

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