Thales

Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the cosmos with myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. In contrast, Thales argued that water is the origin and essence of all things in perhaps the first significant explanation of the physical world without reference to the supernatural. He knew that the earth was a sphere and that the moon reflects light from the sun. Herodotus mentions him as having predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC which put an end to fighting between the Lydians and the Medes.

Thales lived in the city of Miletus, in Ionia. The Ionians were well-traveled and had many dealings with Egypt and Babylon, and it is possible that Thales had studied in Egypt as a young man. In any event, Thales was almost certainly exposed to Egyptian mythology, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as other traditions alien to the Homeric traditions of Greece. It is perhaps because of this that his inquiries into the nature of things took him beyond traditional mythology.

Thales had a profound influence on other Greek thinkers and therefore on Western history. Anaximander is sometimes considered to be a pupil of Thales. It is reported by early sources that one of Anaximander's more famous pupils, Pythagoras, visited Thales as a young man, and was advised to travel to Egypt to further his philosophical and mathematical studies. Many philosophers followed his lead in searching for explanations in nature rather than in the supernatural; others returned to supernatural explanations, but couched in the language of philosophy, rather than myth or religion.

Anecdotes of Thales's life recount that he bought all the olive (or wine?) presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Another version states that bought the presses to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he was able to use his intelligence to enrich himself.

See also: Thales' theorem

Thales Group has been the name of the French electronics and defence contractor Thomson-CSF (Compagnie de telegraphie Sans Fil) since 2000.

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