Four curators retelling art history at LACMA, left to right: Diana Magaloni, Sharon S. Takeda, Leah Lehmbeck and Britt Salvesen outside the new Geffen Galleries by Peter Zumthor at Wilshire Boulevard.

Empedocles and the Four Elements In the mid-5th century BCE, the philosopher Empedocles devised a theory that divided human life into four elements: fire, water, air, and earth.