Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE) was an Athenian philosopher, and the teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle had been taught by Plato, who in turn had been taught by Socrates. Aristotle wrote on a wide range of subjects from physics, to zoology, to botany, to philosophy, to logic, and more. Throughout the Middle Ages, his writings, specifically on the physical sciences, were profoundly important.