Placing the Ionian Περὶ Φύσεως ῾Ιστορία in Context The Role of Sea Trade, Colonization, Navigation, and Analogies from Manufacturing Crafts (Τεχναι) in the Birth of Greek Science

In this paper, I will first indicate the connecting links between the contents of Ionian works Περὶ φύσεως and ‘navigational sciences’, and will discuss bio- graphical evidence on Milesians’ direct involvement in the process of coloni- zation. The recent discoveries of Bulgarian archeologists in Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol) shed new light on Anaximander’s mission as oikistes. After this I will attempt to define with more precision the sociocultural status of the so-called ‘Milesian school’, its set goals and activities. In section 3 I will distinguish main types of analogies used by early physikoi, a conditio sine qua non for the pre- cise understanding of their scientific/philosophical meaning. In sections 4–6 I will concentrate on analogies from metallurgy and metal work followed by analogies from felting and working wool (section 7), which provided empirical ‘proofs’ (tekmeria) for the reconstruction of the origin and evolution of the cos- mos. Conclusion (section 8) will summarize the main results and draw some parallels with the Scientific Revolution in 16th-17th centuries Europe.