Full Idea
Nature is the subject of our enquiry, and nature is a principle of change, so if we do not understand the process of change, we will not understand nature either.
Gist of Idea
Nature is a principle of change, so we must understand change first
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 200b12)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Physics', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1996], p.56
A Reaction
This is a very distinctively Greek attitude which doesn't seem to concern us much, but perhaps it should. Movement is just as fundamental as forces, particles and the rest that physicist talk about. Why do particles respond to forces?