Aristotle was born is 384 BC in Stagira in northern Greece. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician. When Aristotle was young, his parents passed away. A friend of the families then raised him. It is said that he used to speak with a slight lisp. Nicomachus may have had an influence on Aristotle’s strong interest in anatomy and the structure of living things.

In 367 BC, Aristotle went to Athens to join Plato’s Academy, first as a student, then as a teacher. Plato had gathered a wide variety of men that had worked in many subjects such as medicine, biology, mathematics, and astronomy. It was also part of the academies program to train for a political career and to provide advice to rulers. After Plato’s death, Aristotle joined the court of Hermias and Atarneus. Then he later went on to the court of Philip the second of Macedonia, where he became the tutor to the young Alexander the Great.

Aristotle’s first great achievement was probably a handbook, now entitled "Topics and Sophistical Refutations. In this he provided the first general analysis of dialectic and formulated rules for success. The dialectic argument does not lead to true conclusions, though. For Aristotle, knowledge that something is true, but also the reasons why it is true were both required for his scientific knowledge.

Most of Aristotle’s work in biology was devoted to zoology. He believed that the form is determined by their purposes. He also said that the structure and the behavior of thing also have to be understood as contributing to their individual being and function. According to Aristotle, there is no such thing as mere being; to be is always to be a substance or object, a quantity, a quality, or a member of some other basic category.

Aristotle had achieved many things in his life. He was a philosopher, a poet, a biologist, and many other fascinating things. He died in 322 BC in Chalcis (on the Aegean island of Euboea, what is now Ewoia). He had accomplished many great things in his life that are still used to this day. He was a great man and his name will always be looked upon.

Word Count: 364