Apeiron

Apeiron is the true primal chaos that the entire universe is created from according to an ancient astronomer by the name of Anaximander. He wrote of his theory in the 6th century B.C. He theorized that the beginning or first principle, or arche, is an endless, indefinite mass (apeiron), that is subject to neither old age nor decay, and which perpetually yields fresh materials from which everything which we can perceive is derived. It acts as the substratum supporting opposites such as hot and cold, wet and dry, and directed the movement of things, by which there grew up all of the host of shapes and differences which are found in the world.

According to the theory, this Earth sprung out of the apeiron to be equidistant from other orbs of fire that had until then surrounded it like the cover of a book. It began in its perfect shape and conditions. Humankind and all of the animals and plants were simple transmutations. Specifically, Anaximander believed that humans were a mutation of an aquatic animal.

The theory of apeiron also holds that everything that came from the endless, indefinite mass would return to it in some time in the future as predetermined by the chaos itself. There were other theories that considered apeiron. They mainly differed in the fact that they believed that the apeiron consumed other things in the universe to create the conditions of the world and our galaxy as they knew it then.

Although the complete theory of apeiron according to Anaximander is only pieced together from a few fragmented scrolls, you can find a good article on the topic here. Here on Universe Today we have a great article on a more recent theory called the Big Bang. Astronomy Cast offers a good episode about black holes and unbalancing the Earth.

Tagged as: Anaximander, Apeiron, primal chaos