What is "theophrastus"

Theophrastus (; Theόphrastos; c. 371 – c. 287 BC), a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death, he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings and designated him as his successor at the Lyceum. Theophrastus presided over the Peripatetic school for thirty-six years, during which time the school flourished greatly. He is often considered the "father of botany" for his works on plants. After his death, the Athenians honoured him with a public funeral. His successor as head of the school was Strato of Lampsacus.

The interests of Theophrastus were wide ranging, extending from biology and physics to ethics and metaphysics. His two surviving botanical works, Enquiry into Plants (Historia Plantarum) and On the Causes of Plants, were an important influence on Renaissance science. There are also surviving works On Moral Characters, On Sensation, On Stones, and fragments on Physics and Metaphysics. In philosophy, he studied grammar and language and continued Aristotle's work on logic. He also regarded space as the mere arrangement and position of bodies, time as an accident of motion, and motion as a necessary consequence of all activity. In ethics, he regarded happiness as depending on external influences as well as on virtue and famously said that "life is ruled by fortune, not wisdom."

Theophrastus is a small lunar impact crater at the southern part of the Sinus Amoris, a bay at the northeast part of the Mare Tranquillitatis. It lies to the southeast of the lava-flooded crater Maraldi, and was designated Maraldi M until the IAU gave it its current name. Just to the southeast of Theophrastus is the flooded Franz.

This is a circular crater, with inner walls that slope down to the midpoint and a rim that rises slightly above the surrounding lunar mare. The crater has nearly the same low albedo as the nearby surface. It has no other distinctive features, and is not significantly eroded.