Zeno of Elea (490 BC – 430 BC)

Zeno is considered the inventor of dialectic (by Aristotle) and modern logic (by Bertrand Russell). Through his brilliant method of reduction ad absurdum (named dialectical syllogism by Aristotle), Zeno shows that the common sense notion of reality leads to paradoxical results. As a consequence, later Greek natural philosophers develop sound physical theories of composition and Western thinkers create logically consistent mathematical concepts.