Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus (/ˈθeɪliːz/ THAY-leez; Greek: Θαλῆς; c. 626/623 – c. 548/545 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages, founding figures of Ancient Greece.

"Thales" redirects here. For the company, see Thales Group. For other uses, see Thales (disambiguation).

Thales of Miletus

c. 626/623 BC

Miletus, Ionian League
(modern-day Balat, Didim, Aydın, Turkey)

c. 548/545 BC (aged c. 78)

Pre-Socratic philosophy

Western philosophy

Ionian / Milesian

Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, breaking from the prior use of mythology to explain the world and instead using natural philosophy. He is thus otherwise referred to as the first to have engaged in mathematics, science, and deductive reasoning.^[1]

The first philosophers followed him in explaining all of nature as based on the existence of a single ultimate substance. Thales theorized that this single substance was water. Thales thought the Earth floated on water.

In mathematics, Thales is the namesake of Thales's theorem, and the intercept theorem can also be known as Thales's theorem. Thales was said to have calculated the heights of the pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. In science, Thales was an astronomer who reportedly predicted the weather and a solar eclipse. The discovery of the position of the constellation Ursa Major is also attributed to Thales, as well as the timings of the solstices and equinoxes. He was also an engineer, known for having diverted the Halys River.^[1]

Allman, George Johnston (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 721.

"Thales of Miletus"

(1989). A History of Mathematics (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-09763-1. (1991 pbk ed. ISBN 0-471-54397-7; 2011 3rd edition)

Boyer, C.B.

(1957) [1892]. Early Greek Philosophy. The Meridian Library. Third Edition

Burnet, John

(1925). "The Seven Sages: Thales" . Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:1. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.

Laërtius, Diogenes

Histories, A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0-674-99133-8. Online version at Perseus

Herodotus

Kleine Weltgeschichte der Philosophie. Fischer, Frankfurt/M. 2004, ISBN 3-596-50832-0.

Störig, Hans Joachim

Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle.

Lloyd, G. E. R.

Nahm, Milton C. (1962) [1934]. Selections from Early Greek Philosophy. Appleton-Century-Crofts.

The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) London. Taylor and Francis. (1855). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Pliny the Elder

Turner, William (1913). . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

"Ionian School of Philosophy"

Couprie, Dirk L. (2011). Heaven and Earth in Ancient Greek Cosmology: from Thales to Heraclides Ponticus. Springer. 978-1441981158.

ISBN

Luchte, James (2011). Early Greek Thought: Before the Dawn. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-0567353313.

ISBN

O'Grady, Patricia F. (2002). Thales of Miletus: The Beginnings of Western Science and Philosophy. Western Philosophy Series. Vol. 58. Ashgate. 978-0754605331.

ISBN

Mazzeo, Pietro (2010). Talete, il primo filosofo. Bari: Editrice Tipografica.

Molinari, Nicholas J. (2022). Acheloios, Thales, and the Origin of Philosophy: A Response to the Neo-Marxians. Archaeopress. 9781803270869.

ISBN

Priou, Alex (2016). "." The Review of Metaphysics 70, 3–31.

'...Going Further On Down the Road...': The Origin and Foundations of Milesian Thought

Russell, Bertrand (1947). A History of Western Philosophy. Traditio Praesocratica. US: Simon & Schuster publisher. 0-415-32505-6.

ISBN

Wöhrle, Georg., ed. (2014). The Milesians: Thales. Translation and additional material by Richard McKirahan. Traditio Praesocratica. Vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter. 978-3-11-031525-7.

Thales of Miletus