Plato, an aristocrat, left Athens on the death of his beloved Socrates, before returning to found the Academy. This was the prototype of all universities. The basic studies were arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and the harmonics of sound.

The Academy had scientific equipment and a library.The aim was to train men's minds to enable them to think for themselves in the light of reason.

The method seems to have been research under supervision. Education required a joint effort on the part of the teacher and pupil- a truly dialectical process.

Star pupil was Aristotle -who studied at the Academy for 20 years.