Thales
Name	Thales of Miletos (Θαλής ο Μιλήσιος)
Birth	ca. 624–625 BC
Death	ca. 547–546 BC
School/tradition	Ionian Philosophy, Milesian school, Naturalism
Main interests	Ethics, Metaphysics, Mathematics, Astronomy
Notable ideas	Water is the physis, Thales' theorem
Influenced	Pythagoras, Anaximander, Anaximenes

Thales of Miletus^[1] (Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, ca. The Ionians ( Greek:, Iōnes singular) were one of the three populations into which the Ancient Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th Century BC. Philosophical naturalism has been described in various ways In its broadest and strongest sense naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Physis (grc φύσις is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as " Nature " In Geometry, Thales ' theorem (named after Thales of Miletus states that if A B and C are points on a Circle where the line AC is a "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor. Anaximander ( Ancient Greek:) (c 610 BC–c 546 BC was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus Anaximenes (Άναξιμένης of Miletus (c 585 BC-c 525 BC was a Greek Pre-Socratic Philosopher from the latter half of the 624 BC–ca. 546 BC), was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were active before Socrates or contemporaneously but expounding knowledge developed earlier The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The Seven Sages (of Greece or Seven Wise Men (Greek οἱ ἑπτά σοφοί hoi hepta sophoi c Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, while some also consider him the "father of science. Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of Reason and Inquiry. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding " According to Bertrand Russell, "Philosophy begins with Thales. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian "

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Background 1.2 Business 1.3 Politics 1.4 Ethics 1.5 Sagacity 1.6 Death 2 Theories 2.1 Nature as the principles in the form of dogies 2.2 Water as a first principle 2.3 Beliefs in divinity 2.4 Geometry 2.5 Astronomy 3 Interpretations 3.1 Theory 3.2 Method 3.3 Classification 4 Influence on others 5 Sources 6 Trivia 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

Life

Thales lived around the mid 620s–547 BCE and was born in the city of Miletus an ancient Ionian seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor (in what is today the Aydin Province of Turkey) near the mouth of the Maeander River. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Aydın is a province of southwestern Turkey, located in the Aegean Region. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Büyük Menderes River (historically the Maeander also spelled Meander) Turkish: Büyük Menderes Nehri, Ancient Greek:

Background

The dates of Thales' life are not known precisely. Though his date of birth and death seem to be 624 BCE-547 BCE (Before Common Era) The time of his life is roughly established by a few dateable events mentioned in the sources and an estimate of his length of life. According to Herodotus, Thales once predicted a solar eclipse which has been determined by modern methods to have been on May 28, 585 BC. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling ^[2] Diogenes Laërtius quotes the chronicle of Apollodorus as saying that Thales died at 78 in the 58th Olympiad, and Sosicrates as reporting that he was 90 at his death. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname Sosicrates of Rhodes ( Greek: Σωσικράτης ( floruit c

As for his origin, the majority opinion considers Thales to have been a Milesian by descent,^[1] though Herodotus,^[3] Duris of Samos, Democritus^[4] and others^[5] suggest that his parents were Phoenician. The Milesians of Hellenic (Greek civilization were the inhabitants of Miletus, a city in the Anatolia province of modern-day Turkey, near Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Duris of Samos, Greek Historian, according to his own account a descendant of Alcibiades, was born about 340 BC Democritus ( Greek:) was a pre-Socratic Greek Materialist Philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun After repeating a story that Thales had been naturalized, or recently enrolled as a citizen, Diogenes Laërtius informs us that "a more common statement is that he was a native Milesian, of noble extraction. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname "^[4] Diogenes Laërtius and others further suggested that Thales was the son of Examyas and Cleobulina and that they were of the Thelidae family (hence Thales), who were of noble descent from Agenor and Cadmus of ancient Thebes, Greece. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname Agenor ( Gr, "heroic manly" was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician king of Tyre. Cadmus, or Kadmos (Κάδμος in Greek mythology, was a Phoenician prince son of Agenor and the brother of Phoenix, Cilix Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides

When the Greeks settled Miletus, it included a Carian population. The Carian language was the language of the Carians. It was an Anatolian language, apparently closer to Lycian than to Lydian. Families on monuments have both Greek and Carian names. The Carian language was the language of the Carians. It was an Anatolian language, apparently closer to Lycian than to Lydian. Thales' father's name is of the Carian type, like Cheramyes and Panamyes. Cheramyes was a nobleman on the Island of Samos, Greece. He apparently lived during the mid-6th century BC

Diogenes Laërtius reports two stories about Thales' family life, one that he married and had a son, Cybisthus or Cybisthon, or adopted his nephew of the same name. The second is that he never married, telling his mother as a young man that it was too early to marry, and as an older man that it was too late.

Thales involved himself in many activities, taking the role of an innovator. Some say that he left no writings, others that he wrote "On the Solstice" and "On the Equinox". Neither have survived. Diogenes Laërtius quotes letters of Thales to Pherecydes and Solon, offering to review the book of the former on religion, and offering to keep company with the latter on his sojourn from Athens. Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Thales identifies the Milesians as Athenians. ^[6]

Business

Several anecdotes suggest that Thales was not solely a thinker; he was involved in business and politics. One story recounts that he bought all the olive presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Olive oil extraction is the process of extracting the oil present in the olive Drupes for food use Another version of this same story states that he bought the presses not to become wealthy, but merely to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he could use his intelligence to enrich himself. ^[7]

Politics

Thales’ political life had mainly to do with the involvement of the Ionians in the defense of Anatolia against the growing power of the Persians, who were then new to the region. The Ionians ( Greek:, Iōnes singular) were one of the three populations into which the Ancient Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. A king had come to power in neighboring Lydia, Croesus, who was somewhat too aggressive for the size of his army. Defining Lydia Aside from a legend related by Herodotus, who states that the name Lydia came from king Lydus at the time of the fall of Troy This article refers to the historical King of Lydia For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera. He had conquered most of the states of coastal Anatolia, including the cities of the Ionians. The story is told in Herodotus. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash ^[8]

The Lydians were at war with the Medes, a remnant of the first wave of Iranians in the region, over the issue of refuge the Lydians had given to some Scythian soldiers of fortune inimical to the Medes. The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic The war endured for five years, but in the sixth an eclipse of the sun (mentioned above) spontaneously halted a battle in progress (the Battle of Halys). The Battle of Halys, also known as the Battle of the Eclipse, took place at the Halys River (present-day "Kızılırmak" river in Turkey on May

It seems that Thales had predicted this solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured The Seven Sages were most likely already in existence, as Croesus was also heavily influenced by Solon of Athens, another sage. The Seven Sages (of Greece or Seven Wise Men (Greek οἱ ἑπτά σοφοί hoi hepta sophoi c This article refers to the historical King of Lydia For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera. Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Whether Thales was present at the battle is not known, nor are the exact terms of the prediction, but based on it the Lydians and Medes made peace immediately, swearing a blood oath.

The Medes were dependencies of the Persians under Cyrus. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Croesus now sided with the Medes against the Persians and marched in the direction of Iran (with far fewer men than he needed). He was stopped by the river Halys, then unbridged. This time he had Thales with him, perhaps by invitation. Whatever his status, the king gave the problem to him, and he got the army across by digging a diversion upstream so as to reduce the flow, making it possible to ford the river. The channels ran around both sides of the camp.

The two armies engaged at Pteria in Cappadocia. Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: As the battle was indecisive but paralyzing to both sides, Croesus marched home, dismissed his mercenaries and sent emissaries to his dependents and allies to ask them to dispatch fresh troops to Sardis. Sardis, also Sardes ( Lydian: Sfard, Greek: Σάρδεις, Persian: Sparda) modern Sart in The issue became more pressing when the Persian army showed up at Sardis. Diogenes Laertius^[9] tells us that Thales gained fame as a counsellor when he advised the Milesians not to engage in a symmachia, a “fighting together”, with the Lydians. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname This has sometimes been interpreted as an alliance, but a ruler does not ally with his subjects.

Croesus was defeated before the city of Sardis by Cyrus, who subsequently spared Miletus because it had taken no action. The Great King was something of a philosopher himself. He was so impressed by Croesus’ wisdom and his connection with the sages that he spared him and took his advice on various matters.

The Ionians were now free. Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece An amphora (plural amphorae or amphoras) is a type of Ceramic Vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Herodotus says that Thales advised them to form an Ionian state; that is, a bouleuterion (“deliberative body”) to be located at Teos in the center of Ionia. Teos (Greek Τέως or Teo, was a maritime city of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus Geography Physical Ionia was of small extent not exceeding 90 geographical miles in length from north to south with a breadth varying from 40 to 55 miles but to this The Ionian cities should be demoi, or “districts”. Miletus, however, received favorable terms from Cyrus. The others remained in an Ionian League of 12 cities (excluding Miletus now), and were subjugated by the Persians.

Ethics

The ethics of Thales can be estimated from the sayings attributed to him, reported in Diogenes Laertius. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname ^[10] First, he recognizes a transcendental God, who has neither beginning nor end. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. He believes that God is just and expects men to behave justly. Neither men being unjust (ἄδικος) nor thinking injustice escape the notice of the Gods (θεοί). In this form of polytheism the transcendental god expresses himself through gods, so that a man can say θεοί and mean God. Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple Gods (usually assembled in a pantheon) together with associated Mythology and Rituals

Thales’ idea of justice includes both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Concerning the former, he advises that adultery and perjury about it in court are equally bad. His value of civic law is supplemented by some practical advice. Expect the same support from your children that you give to your parents. Do not let talk influence you against those whom you have come to trust. Be rich, yes, for success is sweet. However, do not be rich badly (κακῶς).

As to the spirit of the law, we find Thales expressing a rather well known principle for leading the best (ἄριστα) and most just (δικαιότατα) life:

ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτιμῶμεν, αὐτοὶ μὴ δρῶμεν

“That for which we blame others, let us not do ourselves”

This rejection of hypocrisy resembles the foundational principle of Jewish law, “Do not unto thy neighbor what is hateful to thyself.” His view of enemies is somewhat more severe than the Old Testament, which supports an equal exchange of penalties: an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth etc (Exodus 21:23–25). PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The ethic of reciprocity is a fundamental moral Value which " refers to the balance in an interactive system such that each party has both rights and In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. According to Thales, a man can better bear adversity if he sees that his enemies are worse off.

Thales' view was that men are better than women and Greeks are better than barbarians. (He stated this despite the fact that his proudest ancestor was dethroned in Thebes for being a barbarian. )

Thales was not Democratic. One story has him living with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus. Thrasybulus ( Θρασύβουλος, 'brave-willed' θræsɪˈbjuːləs d In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient In his letter to Solon he offers to live elsewhere with him, seeing that Solon finds tyranny so offensive. Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Ancient philosophers in general tended to support benign tyranny, such as Plato’s ideal philosopher-king. Unquestionably, sages were more at home with absolutism than with democratic forms of government. They could not resist undertaking to reform the morals of the citizens, with well-known results. Philosophers' support of tyrants generally had poor results; the outcome was generally the expulsion or murder of the tyrant and the massacre of the philosophers.

According to Thales, a happy man is defined as one

ὁ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ὑγιής, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν εὔπορος, τὴν δὲ φύσιν εὐπαίδευτος

“Who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of a readily teachable nature”

which is similar to the Roman “Mens sana in corpore sano”, our “sane mind in a healthy body. Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body is a famous Latin quotation often translated as "A sound mind in a sound body ” Perhaps Thales did exercise, but he did not cultivate the body, as he preached not beautifying the appearance (ὄψις) but practicing the good, not the bad.

Sagacity

Diogenes Laertius^[11] tells us that the Seven Sages were created in the archonship of Damasius at Athens about 582 BC and that Thales was the first sage. The Seven Sages (of Greece or Seven Wise Men (Greek οἱ ἑπτά σοφοί hoi hepta sophoi c Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's The same story, however, asserts that Thales emigrated to Miletus. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient There is also a report that he did not become a student of nature until after his political career. Much as we would like to have a date on the seven sages, we must reject these stories and the tempting date if we are to believe that Thales was a native of Miletus, predicted the eclipse, and was with Croesus in the campaign against Cyrus. This article refers to the historical King of Lydia For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera.

Thales had no instruction but that of Egyptian priests, we are told. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Whether we should believe that story is a different matter. It was fairly certain that he came from a wealthy and established family, and the wealthy customarily educated their children. Moreover, the ordinary citizen, unless he was a seafaring man or a merchant, could not afford the grand tour in Egypt, and in any case did not consort with noble lawmakers such as Solon. Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Perhaps the source only meant that Thales had not been instructed in philosophy before proposing his theories about nature.

He did participate in some games, most likely Panhellenic, at which he won a bowl twice. Panhellenic Games is the collective term for four separate sports festivals held in Ancient Greece. He dedicated it to Apollo at Delphi. Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western As he was not known to have been athletic, his event was probably declamation, and it may have been victory in some specific phase of this event that led to his being designated sage.

Another trophy, a tripod, is said to have been bestowed upon him and was given by him to another sage, going the rounds until it came back to him, at which time he dedicated it to Apollo. The oracle given to the Koans, in obedience to which the tripod was given to Thales (in this story), said that it should go to

ὃς σοφὸς ᾖ τὰ ἐόντα τὰ τ'ἐσσόμενα πρό τ'ἐόντα

”Who is wise in the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were”

which is delivered in dactylic hexameter, the verse form of the Iliad, and contains a formula said of Calchas,^[12] a Homeric mantis, or “seer”. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature Kos or Cos ( Greek: Κως Turkish: İstanköy; Italian: Coo formerly Stanchio in English is a Greek Dactylic Hexameter (also known as "heroic hexameter" is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient In Greek mythology, Calchas ("bronze-man" son of Thestor was a Argive Seer, with a gift for interpreting the flight of birds that he received In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary Thales did predict an eclipse. Perhaps it was on that basis that he was pronounced sage. One of the verses attributed to him proclaims that

σοφώτατον χρόνος: ἀνευρίσκει γὰρ πάντα

”Time is the wisest because it discovers everything”

The time, place and reasons for Thales being declared officially sage remain obscure, although the sources made some good guesses, one or more of which were probably right. In Greek mythology, Chronos ( Ancient Greek:) in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of Time. The essence of his wisdom seems to have been simplicity of theory with emphasis on insight and inspiration, as these words of a song attributed to him by Laertius indicate:

οὔ τι τὰ πολλὰ ἔπη φρονίμην ἀπεφήνατο δόξαν:

ἕν τι μάτευε σοφόν,

ἕν τι κεδνὸν αἱροῦ:

”Never did many words declare a mindful teaching: strive after a single wise thing, pick one thing you can depend on:”

Death

Thales is said to have died of dehydration while watching a gymnastic contest. ^[13]

Theories

Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the world through myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely Human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings natural and supernatural phenomena material states and objects See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always A hero (from Greek grc ἥρως hērōs) in Greek mythology and Folklore, was originally a Demigod, the offspring of a mortal and Phenomena such as lightning or earthquakes were attributed to actions of the gods. Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of Electricity, which typically occurs during Thunderstorms and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer

Nature as the principles in the form of dogies

In contrast to these mythological explanations, Thales attempted to find naturalistic explanations of the world, without reference to the supernatural. Philosophical naturalism has been described in various ways In its broadest and strongest sense naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events He explained earthquakes by hypothesizing that the Earth floats on water, and that earthquakes occur when the Earth is rocked by waves. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001

Thales, according to Aristotle, asked what was the nature (Greek physis, Latin natura) of the object so that it would behave in its characteristic way. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Physis (φύσις) comes from phuein (φύειν), "to grow", related to our word "be". Physis (grc φύσις is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as " Nature " ^[14] (G)natura is the way a thing is "born",^[15] again with the stamp of what it is in itself.

Aristotle^[16] characterizes most of the philosophers "at first" (πρῶτον) as thinking that the "principles in the form of matter were the only principles of all things", where "principle" is arche, "matter" is hyle ("wood") and "form" is eidos. In the ancient Greek philosophy, arche (ἀρχή is the beginning or the first principle of the world In Philosophy, hyle (ύλη (ˈhaɪli refers to matter or stuff Plato 's Theory of Forms asserts that Forms (or Ideas) and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess

"Principle" translates arche, but the two words do not have precisely the same meaning. A principle of something is merely prior (related to pro-) to it either chronologically or logically. For the term in chemistry see Principle (chemistry. Not to be confused with Principal. An arche (from αρχειν, "to rule") dominates an object in some way. If the arche is taken to be an origin, then specific causality is implied; that is, B is supposed to be characteristically B just because it comes from A, which dominates it.

The archai that Aristotle had in mind in his well-known passage on the first Greek scientists are not necessarily chronologically prior to their objects, but are constituents of it. For example, in pluralism objects are composed of earth, air, fire and water, but those elements do not disappear with the production of the object. They remain as archai within it, as do the atoms of the atomists.

What Aristotle is really saying is that the first philosophers were trying to define the substance(s) of which all material objects are composed. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what modern scientists are trying to do in nuclear physics, which is a second reason why Thales is described as the first scientist.

Water as a first principle

Thales' most famous belief was his cosmological doctrine, which held that the world originated from water. Cosmology (from Greek grc κοσμολογία - grc κόσμος kosmos, "universe" and grc -λογία -logia) is study Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Aristotle considered this belief roughly equivalent to the later ideas of Anaximenes, who held that everything in the world was composed of air. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Anaximenes (Άναξιμένης of Miletus (c 585 BC-c 525 BC was a Greek Pre-Socratic Philosopher from the latter half of the Temperature and layers The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere varies with altitude the mathematical relationship between temperature and altitude varies among five

The best explanation of Thales' view is the following passage from Aristotle's Metaphysics. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science ^[17] The passage contains words from the theory of matter and form that were adopted by science with quite different meanings. Hylomorphism ( Greek hylo-, "wood matter" + -morphism morphē, "form" is the philosophical theory

"That from which is everything that exists (ἅπαντα τὰ ὄντα) and from which it first becomes (ἐξ οὗ γίγνεται πρῶτου) and into which it is rendered at last (εἰς ὃ φθείρεται τελευταῖον), its substance remaining under it (τῆς μὲν οὐσίας ὑπομενούσης), but transforming in qualities (τοῖς δὲ πάθεσι μεταβαλλούσης), that they say is the element (στοιχεῖον) and principle (ἀρχήν) of things that are. "

And again:

"For it is necessary that there be some nature (φύσις), either one or more than one, from which become the other things of the object being saved. . . Thales the founder of this type of philosophy says that it is water. "^[18]

Aristotle's depiction of the change problem and the definition of substance is clear. Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its If an object changes, is it the same or different? In either case how can there be a change from one to the other? The answer is that the substance "is saved", but acquires or loses different qualities (πάθη, the things you "experience").

A deeper dip into the waters of the theory of matter and form is properly reserved to other articles. The question for this article is, how far does Aristotle reflect Thales? He was probably not far off, and Thales was probably an incipient matter-and-formist.

The essentially non-philosophic Diogenes Laertius states that Thales taught as follows:

"Water constituted (ὑπεστήσατο, 'stood under') the principle of all things. "^[19]

Heraclitus Homericus^[20] states that Thales drew his conclusion from seeing moist substance turn into air, slime and earth. It seems clear that Thales viewed the Earth as solidifying from the water on which it floated and which surrounded Ocean.

Beliefs in divinity

Thales applied his method to objects that changed to become other objects, such as water into earth (he thought). But what about the changing itself? Thales did address the topic, approaching it through magnets and amber, which, when electrified by rubbing, attracts also. A concern for magnetism and electrification never left science, being a major part of it today.

How was the power to move other things without the mover’s changing to be explained? Thales saw a commonality with the powers of living things to act. The magnet and the amber must be alive, and if that were so, there could be no difference between the living and the dead. When asked why he didn’t die if there was no difference, he replied “because there is no difference. ”

Aristotle defined the soul as the principle of life, that which imbues the matter and makes it live, giving it the animation, or power to act. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living The idea did not originate with him, as the Greeks in general believed in the distinction between mind and matter, which was ultimately to lead to a distinction not only between body and soul but also between matter and energy.

If things were alive, they must have souls. This belief was no innovation, as the ordinary ancient populations of the Mediterranean did believe that natural actions were caused by divinities. Accordingly, the sources say that Thales believed all things possessed divinities. In their zeal to make him the first in everything they said he was the first to hold the belief, which even they must have known was not true.

However, Thales was looking for something more general, a universal substance of mind. That also was in the polytheism of the times. Zeus was the very personification of supreme mind, dominating all the subordinate manifestations. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. From Thales on, however, philosophers had a tendency to depersonify or objectify mind, as though it were the substance of animation per se and not actually a god like the other gods. The end result was a total removal of mind from substance, opening the door to a non-divine principle of action. This tradition persisted until Einstein, whose cosmology is quite a different one and does not distinguish between matter and energy.

Classical thought, however, had proceeded only a little way along that path. Instead of referring to the person, Zeus, they talked about the great mind:

"Thales", says Cicero,^[21] "assures that water is the principle of all things; and that God is that Mind which shaped and created all things from water. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman "

The universal mind appears as a Roman belief in Virgil as well:

"In the beginning, SPIRIT within (spiritus intus) strengthens Heaven and Earth,

The watery fields, and the lucid globe of Luna, and then --

Titan stars; and mind (mens) infused through the limbs

Agitates the whole mass, and mixes itself with GREAT MATTER (magno corpore)"^[22]

Geometry

Thales was known for his innovative use of geometry. Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position His understanding was theoretical as well as practical. For example, he said:

Megiston topos: hapanta gar chorei (Μέγιστον τόπος η άπαντα γαρ χωρεί)

”Place is the greatest thing, as it contains all things”

Topos is in Newtonian-style space, since the verb, chorei, has the connotation of yielding before things, or spreading out to make room for them, which is extension. Space is the extent within which Matter is physically extended and objects and Events have positions relative to one another Within this extension, things have a position. Points, lines, planes and solids related by distances and angles follow from this presumption. In Geometry, Topology and related branches of mathematics a spatial point describes a specific point within a given space that consists of neither Volume A solid' object is in the States of matter characterized by resistance to Deformation and changes of Volume. Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are In Geometry and Trigonometry, an angle (in full plane angle) is the figure formed by two rays sharing a common Endpoint, called

Thales understood similar triangles and right triangles, and what is more, used that knowledge in practical ways. Geometry Two geometrical objects are called similar if one is congruent to the result of a uniform scaling (enlarging or shrinking of the other Two types of special right triangles appear commonly in geometry the "angle based" and the "side based" (or Pythagorean Triangles The former are characterised The story is told in DL (loc. cit. ) that he measured the height of the pyramids by their shadows at the moment when his own shadow was equal to his height. A pyramid is a Building where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point A right triangle with two equal legs is a 45-degree right triangle, all of which are similar. The length of the pyramid’s shadow measured from the center of the pyramid at that moment must have been equal to its height.

This story reveals that he was familiar with the Egyptian seqt, or seked, defined by Problem 57 of the Rhind papyrus as the ratio of the run to the rise of a slope, which is currently the cotangent function of trigonometry. The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (RMP (also designated as papyrus British Museum 10057 and pBM 10058 is named after Alexander Henry Rhind, a Scottish Slope is used to describe the steepness incline gradient or grade of a straight line. Circle-trig6svg|300px|thumb|right|All of the Trigonometric functions of an angle θ can be constructed geometrically in terms of a unit circle centered at O. It characterizes the angle of rise.

Our cotangents require the same units for run and rise, but the papyrus uses cubits for rise and palms for run, resulting in different (but still characteristic) numbers. For the multi-touch interface see CUBIT (multi-touch. For the unit of information see Qubit. A palm, when used as a unit of length is usually four digits ( fingers) or three Inches i Since there were 7 palms in a cubit, the seqt was 7 times the cotangent.

To use an example often quoted in modern reference works, suppose the base of a pyramid is 140 cubits and the angle of rise 5. 25 seqt. The Egyptians expressed their fractions as the sum of fractions, but the decimals are sufficient for the example. What is the rise in cubits? The run is 70 cubits, 490 palms. X, the rise, is 490 divided by 5. 25 or 93. 33 cubits. These figures sufficed for the Egyptians and Thales. We would go on to calculate the cotangent as 70 divided by 93. 33 or. 75003 and looking that up in a table of cotangents find that the angle of rise is a few minutes over 53 degrees.

Whether the ability to use the seqt, which preceded Thales by about 1000 years, means that he was the first to define trigonometry is a matter of opinion. More practically Thales used the same method to measure the distances of ships at sea, said Eudemus as reported by Proclus (“in Euclidem”). Proclus Lycaeus ( February 8, c 411 &ndash April 17, 485) called "The Successor" or "Diadochos" ( Greek Próklos According to Kirk & Raven (reference cited below), all you need for this feat is three straight sticks pinned at one end and knowledge of your altitude. One stick goes vertically into the ground. A second is made level. With the third you sight the ship and calculate the seqt from the height of the stick and its distance from the point of insertion to the line of sight.

The seqt is a measure of the angle. Knowledge of two angles (the seqt and a right angle) and an enclosed leg (the altitude) allows you to determine by similar triangles the second leg, which is the distance. Thales probably had his own equipment rigged and recorded his own seqts, but that is only a guess.

Thales’ Theorem is stated in another article. In Geometry, Thales ' theorem (named after Thales of Miletus states that if A B and C are points on a Circle where the line AC is a In addition Eudemus attributed to him the discovery that a circle is bisected by its diameter, that the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal and that vertical angles are equal. Eudemus is also the name of a general of Alexander the Great (died 316 BC In Geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal or Congruent parts usually by a line, which is then called a bisector It would be hard to imagine civilization without these theorems.

It is possible, of course, to question whether Thales really did discover these principles. On the other hand, it is not possible to answer such doubts definitively. The sources are all that we have, even though they sometimes contradict each other.

(The most we can say is that Thales knew these principles. There is no evidence for Thales discovering these principles, and, based on the evidence, we cannot say that Thales discovered these principles. )

Astronomy

According to Diogenes Laertius, Lobon of Argos wrote that he saw a statue of Thales at Miletus with an inscription describing him as "most senior in wisdom of all the astronomers (αστρολογοι). Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor " The word, astrologoi, could mean what it does today, the divination of human affairs from the positions of the stars, but it also meant scientific astronomy, as in the case of Thales. Whether he was the first to do these things, as the enthusiastic DL claims, is another matter.

He set the seasons of the year and divided the year into 365 days. These abilities presume that he had a - to some degree - effective theory of the path of the sun, but we do not know what it was. He estimated the size of the sun at 1/720th of its path and that of the moon at the same ratio of its smaller path. He was able to estimate the heights of the pyramids from the lengths of their shadows. A pyramid is a Building where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point He knew and taught the value of Ursa Minor to navigators, which the sources say he got from the Phoenician, but as far as they were concerned, he "discovered" it. Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun

We know that he observed the stars, as he is related to have fallen into a ditch one night. Answering his cries for help, an old woman (in DL) wanted to know how he expected to know anything about the stars when he did not even know what was on the Earth at his feet. Plato makes the ditch a well and questioner a witty and attractive Thracian slave girl,^[23] unless we presume he fell twice and elicited the same sort of comment. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity

Although many of Thales claims were accurate, he was wrong about some things. For example, he believed that the yearly flooding of the Nile was caused by seasonal winds blowing upstream. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River

Interpretations

In the long sojourn of philosophy on the earth there has existed hardly a philosopher or historian of philosophy who did not mention Thales and try to characterize him in some way. He is generally recognized as having brought something new to human thought. Mathematics, astronomy and medicine already existed. Thales added something to these different collections of knowledge to produce a universality, which, as far as writing tells us, was not in tradition before, but resulted in a new field, science.

Ever since, interested persons have been asking what that new something is. Answers fall into (at least) two categories, the theory and the method. Once an answer has been arrived at, the next logical step is to ask how Thales compares to other philosophers, which leads to his classification (rightly or wrongly).

Theory

The most natural epithets of Thales are "materialist" and "naturalist", which are based on ousia and physis. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Philosophical naturalism has been described in various ways In its broadest and strongest sense naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is The Catholic Encyclopedia goes so far as to call him a physiologist, a person who studied physis, despite the fact that we already have physiologists. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia On the other hand, he would have qualified as an early physicist, as did Aristotle. A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning They studied corpora, "bodies", the medieval descendants of substances.

Most agree that Thales' stamp on thought is the unity of substance, hence Bertrand Russell:^[24]

"The view that all matter is one is quite a reputable scientific hypothesis. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian "

". . . But it is still a handsome feat to have discovered that a substance remains the same in different states of aggregation. "

Russell was only reflecting an established tradition; for example, Nietzsche, in his Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks, wrote:^[25]

"Greek philosophy seems to begin with an absurd notion, with the proposition that water is the primal origin and the womb of all things. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist Is it really necessary for us to take serious notice of this proposition? It is, and for three reasons. First, because it tells us something about the primal origin of all things; second, because it does so in language devoid of image or fable, and finally, because contained in it, if only embryonically, is the thought, 'all things are one. '"

This sort of materialism, however, should not be confused with deterministic materialism. Thales was only trying to explain the unity observed in the free play of the qualities. The arrival of uncertainty in the modern world made possible a return to Thales; for example, John Elof Boodin writes ("God and Creation"):

"We cannot read the universe from the past. John Elof Boodin ( November 14, 1869 - November 14, 1950) was a Swedish -born American Idealist and systematic . . "

Boodin defines an "emergent" materialism, in which the objects of sense emerge uncertainly from the substrate. Thales is the innovator of this sort of materialism.

Method

Thales represents something new in method as well. Edmund Husserl^[26] attempts to capture it as follows. Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (ˈhʊsɛrl April 8 1859 – April 26 1938) was a philosopher, known as the father of Philosophical man is a new cultural configuration based on a rejection of tradition in favor of an inquiry into what is true in itself; that is, an ideal of truth. It begins with isolated individuals such as Thales, but they are supported and cooperated with as time goes on. Finally the ideal transforms the norms of society, leaping across national borders.

Classification

The term, Pre-Socratic, derives ultimately from Aristotle, a qualified philosopher ("the father of philosophy"), who distinguished the early philosophers as concerning themselves with substance. The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were active before Socrates or contemporaneously but expounding knowledge developed earlier This is not entirely true.

Diogenes Laertius on the other hand took a strictly geographic and ethnic approach. Philosophers were either Ionian or Italian. He used Ionian in a broader sense, including also the Athenian academics, who were not Pre-Socratics. From a philosophic point of view, any grouping at all would have been just as effective. There is no basis for an Ionian or Italian unity. Some scholars, however, concede to Diogenes' scheme as far as referring to an "Ionian" school. There was no such school in any sense.

The most popular approach refers to a Milesian school, which is more justifiable socially and philosophically. They sought for the substance of phenomena and may have studied with each other. Some ancient writers qualify them as Milesioi, "of Miletus. "

Influence on others

Thales had a profound influence on other Greek thinkers and therefore on Western history. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Some believe Anaximander was a pupil of Thales. Anaximander ( Ancient Greek:) (c 610 BC–c 546 BC was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus Early sources report that one of Anaximander's more famous pupils, Pythagoras, visited Thales as a young man, and that Thales advised him to travel to Egypt to further his philosophical and mathematical studies. "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor.

Many philosophers followed Thales' lead in searching for explanations in nature rather than in the supernatural; others returned to supernatural explanations, but couched them in the language of philosophy rather than of myth or of religion. Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos

When you specifically look at the influence Thales had in the pre-Socrates era, he was one of the first thinkers who thought more in the way of logos than mythos. grc-Latn Logos (ˈloʊːgɒs ( Greek, logos) is an important term in Philosophy, Analytical psychology, Rhetoric and Religion The difference between these two more profound ways of seeing the world is that mythos is concentrated around the stories of holy origin, while logos is concentrated around the argumentation. When the mythical man wants to explain the world the way he sees it, he explains it based on gods and powers. Mythical thought does not differentiate between things and persons and furthermore it does not differentiate between nature and culture. The way a logos thinker would present a world view is radically different from the way of the mythical thinker. In its concrete form, logos is a way of thinking not only about individualism, but also the abstract. Furthermore, it focuses on sensible and continuous argumentation. This lays the foundation of philosophy and its way of explaining the world in terms of abstract argumentation, and not in the way of gods and mythical stories. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language

Sources

Our sources on the Milesian philosophers (Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes) were either roughly contemporaneous (such as Herodotus) or lived within a few hundred years of his passing. The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th Century BC. Anaximander ( Ancient Greek:) (c 610 BC–c 546 BC was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus Anaximenes (Άναξιμένης of Miletus (c 585 BC-c 525 BC was a Greek Pre-Socratic Philosopher from the latter half of the Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Moreover, they were writing from a tradition that was well-known. Compared to most persons, places and things of classical antiquity, we know a great deal about Thales. Most modern dissension comes from trying to interpret what we know.

Diogenes Laertius lists two works, quoted above, written by Thales, and also relates the strange tradition that he did not write. Diogenes, however, had access to two of Thales' letters, which he quotes. Those writings are two more than the surviving works of Socrates, which are none. SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of Education. And yet, thanks to Plato, we know as much about Socrates as anyone. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece More than likely, the non-writing tradition about Thales is a complaint that such a famous man did not leave enough to be quoted by the secondary sources.

The main secondary source concerning the details of Thales' life and career is Diogenes Laertius (DL here), "Lives of Eminent Philosophers". Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname ^[27] This is primarily a biographical work, as the name indicates. Compared to Aristotle, DL is not much of a philosopher. He is the one who, in the Prologue to that work, is responsible for the division of the early philosophers into "Ionian" and "Italian", but he places the Academics in the Ionian school and otherwise evidences considerable disarray and contradiction, especially in the long section on forerunners of the "Ionian School. " DL does give us the extant primary sources on Thales (the two letters and some verses).

Most philosophic analyses of the philosophy of Thales come from Aristotle, an Academic and a professional philosopher, tutor of Alexander the Great. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Aristotle may or may not have had access to the now mysterious possible works of Thales. There was also an extensive oral tradition. Both the oral and the written were commonly read or known by all educated men in the region.

Academic philosophy had a distinct stamp: it professed the theory of matter and form, which modern scholastics have dubbed hylomorphism. Hylomorphism ( Greek hylo-, "wood matter" + -morphism morphē, "form" is the philosophical theory Though once very widespread, it was not generally adopted by rationalist and modern science, as it mainly is useful in metaphysical analyses, but does not lend itself to the detail that is of interest to modern science. In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science It is not clear that the theory of matter and form existed as early as Thales, and if it did, whether Thales espoused it.

Trivia

• In Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novel Death of a Doxy (adapted for A&E TV's original series A Nero Wolfe Mystery), one of the antagonists, a mathematician, uses the name "Milton Thales" as a pseudonym, a reference to Thales of Miletus. Rex Todhunter Stout ( December 1 1886 - October 27 1975) was an American Crime writer, best known as the creator of Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective created by the American Mystery writer Rex Stout, who made his debut in 1934 A Nero Wolfe Mystery (aka Nero Wolfe, The Nero Wolfe Mysteries) is a television series based on Rex Stout 's classic series of detective A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics.

See also

• Know thyself
• Material monism

Notes

References

• Burnet, John [1892] (1957). Early Greek Philosophy. The Meridian Library.   (reprinted from the 4th edition, 1930; the first edition was published in 1892). An online presentation of the Third Edition can be found in the Online Books Library of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Diogenes Laertius, "Thales", in The Lives And Opinions Of Eminent Philosophers, C. D. Yonge (translator), Kessinger Publishing, LLC (June 8, 2006) ISBN 1428625852.
• Herodotus; Histories, A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0674991338. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Alfred Denis Godley (1856--1925 was a classical scholar and author of humorous poems Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Kirk, G. S. ; Raven, J. E. (1957). The Presocratic Philosophers. Cambridge: University Press.   (subsequently reprinted)
• G. E. R. Lloyd. Sir Geoffrey Ernest Richard Lloyd (born 25 January 1933) is a historian of Ancient Science and Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle.  
• Nahm, Milton C. [1934] (1962). Selections from Early Greek Philosophy. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.  
• Pliny the Elder; The Natural History (eds. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author Naturalis Historia ( Latin for "Natural History" is an Encyclopedia written Circa AD 77 by Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M. D. , F. R. S. H. T. Riley, Esq. , B. A. ) London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. (1855). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

• Thales of Miletus from The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Thales of Miletus from the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
• Livius, Thales of Miletus by Jona Lendering
• Thales
• Thales' Theorem - Math Open Reference With interactive animation
• Thales biography by Charlene Douglass With extensive bibliography.

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