STRATO

Greek philosopher who succeeded Theophrastus as director of the Peripatetic School. Famous was his theory of vacuum, in which all substances contain vacuum and differences in the weight of substances are due to differences in the extent of the vacuum. This theory formed the theoretical basis for the construction of air and steam engines during the Hellenistic period, which were described by Heron Alexandreus. Straton was an orthodox Aristotelian but he elaborated his teacher's interpretation of nature, emphasizing causality and materialism, denying the influence of divine forces in the process of nature None of his works have survived
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