[Sigia-l] The Value of an IA discussion - from a newbie'sperspective

[andrew at friendlymanual.com]

Quoting Christopher Fahey <askrom at graphpaper.com>:

> >> On the contrary front though ... he wasn't the
> >> first to classify stuff. Go back to the ancient greek.
>
> >From memory, the particular Greek chap was Aratosthenes
>
> Aristotle is the one you're thinking of
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle).

No, it was Eratosthenes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes) - he
developed a method for generating prime numbers and calculated the
circumference of the Earth within a couple of percentage points.

He also codified the "western elemental" classification system.

On Aristotle - just because some of his science is now laughable does not mean
that he did not create something of lasting value, nor that it did not
contribute to Linneus' work.

Cheers, Andrew

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