Greeks and the Four States of Matter

Recently I commented on Thales of Miletus and his notion that water is the substance of the universe. He seems to have been a brilliant man. He also is said to have said “Nothing is more active than thought, for it flies over the whole universe.” The statement reminds me of Genesis 1:2 which says that the spirit of God was moving over the waters (which then covered the whole earth). Not an exact parallelism, but close enough to trigger the connection.

The ancient Greeks more generally saw there as being four elements. Maybe you remember those from grade school: earth, water, air, and fire. I think even Thales recognized the multiplicity of elements but thought that water was the one that gave rise to the others. I long thought the whole 4 element view rather inobservant, but lately I realize that earth, water, air, and fire correspond to what we see as the four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. I feel a bit dull to have not made that connection until recently. What has my brain been doing? I need it to wave a bit more vigorously.