Aristotle. Historical portrait of the Ancient Greek philosopher and naturalist Aristotle (384- 322 BC). Aristotle is one of the most important figures in the history of Western thought. He produced a huge output in many areas of knowledge, heavily influencing later thinkers. Aristotle's cosmology had the unchanging heavenly bodies moving in circular orbits about the Earth. This thinking was not overthrown until the scientific revolutions of the 16th and 17th centuries. He also worked on zoology, taxonomy, embryology, physics and logic. He was a pupil at Plato's Academy in Athens and later a tutor of the young Alexander the Great. Published in a 1702 book.