Inquirers into Nature not myth makers

The Lost Sheep

Aristotle remarked the pre Socratics were inquirers into nature not myth makers. What did he mean by this?
The Pre Socratics used reason and argument to systematically investigate the natural world. Thales was very much an inquirer into nature, predicting a solar eclipse using maths and astronomy and was very much a rational being. Please any help on this would be great on how to answer such a question thanks.

Joe1919

I have posted some links that might help.

The first is the renaissance painter Raphael's artistic representation of the difference between Plato (who points up to the heavens for answers) and Aristotle (who looks to the ground for answers).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#Central_figures_.2814_and_15.29

My second link is Aristotle's criticism of Plato's theory of forms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Forms#Aristotelian_criticism

My third link is the debate between rationalists and empiricists. (The debate continues into the modern period)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/

You could go even further and into the post-modern era with this to show that even modern science still often talks in terms of 'myths' . e.g. Rorty spends much of the book explaining how philosophical paradigm shifts and their associated philosophical "problems" can be considered the result of the new metaphors, vocabularies, and mistaken linguistic associations which are necessarily a part of those new paradigms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_and_the_Mirror_of_Nature

Baked.noodle

Plato wrote of the Noble Lie, and refers to Socrates in his writings.

Plato presented the Noble Lie (γενναῖον ψεῦδος, gennaion pseudos) in a fictional tale, wherein Socrates provides the origin of the three social classes who compose the republic proposed by Plato; Socrates speaks of a socially stratified society, wherein the populace are told "a sort of Phoenician tale":

Many people, particularity elites, see wisdom in the noble lie of 'Philosopher kings' and view it as integral to a strong society, but others, such as Karl Popper have criticised Plato as a genesis of totalitarianism.