Elements ancient Greek system

But want of originality did not help Etienne de Clave. His idea was heretical because it contradicted the system of elements propounded by the ancient Greeks and endorsed by Aristotle, their most influential philosopher. Aristotle took this scheme from his teacher Plato, who in turn owed it to Empedocles, a philosopher who lived during Athens s Golden Age of Periclean democracy in the fifth century bc. According to Empedocles there were four elements earth, air, fire, and water. 

Chemistry is an ancient science dating back to at least 1000 b.c., when early "chemists" discovered how to isolate metals from ores and how to preserve bodies by using embalming fluids. The Greeks were the first to try to figure out why chemical changes occur. By 400 b.c., they had proposed a system of four elements fire, earth, water, and air. The next 2000 years of chemical history were dominated by a pseudoscience called alchemy. Although many alchemists were fakes and mystics, some were serious scientists who made important discoveries. 

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