Thales of Maladies was the first known Greek philosopher, scientist and mathematician.  Little is known of Thales.  He was born about 624 BC in Maladies, Asia Minor (now Turkey) and died about 546 BC in Miletos, Turkey.  Some consider him to be the teacher of Pythagoras, though it may be that he advised Pythagoras to travel to Egypt and Chaldea.   He is regarded as having been unusually clever, by general agreement the first of the Seven Wise Men, a person of the Egyptians and the Chaldeans.  None of Thales writings have survived, so this makes it difficult to determine his philosophy and to be certain about his mathematical discoveries.

        He is credited with five theorems of elementary geometry: (1) The circle is bisected by its diameter; (2) the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal; (3) pairs of vertical angles formed by two intersecting straight lines are equal; (4) an angle inscribed in a semicircle is a right angle; (5) two triangles are congruent if they have two angles and one side that are equal.  Whether or not Thales actually proved these geometry theorems is unknown.  Many scholars believe that Thales made practical use of his fifth theorem in his renowned ability to measure the distance of a ship from shore.  One theory of how Thales accomplished this remarkable measurement for his day says that Thales used a tower of known height on shore, a plum line, and a carpenter=s square.  Driving a nail in the tower that corresponded to a line of sight to the ship.  It is also reported that he predicted an eclipse of the Sun in May 585 BC, startling all of Ionia.  He learned the secret of predicting such events through the Babylonians, who kept detailed records of astronomical events for many centuries.  With these records, Thales may have been able to calculate that an eclipse might occur in that year.  No matter how Thales made his famous prediction, he had tremendous amount of luck, not the least of which was the fact that the eclipse happened to be visible in Maladies. 

        While Thales is remembered today primarily for his efforts in geometry and astronomy, Thales was also the first great Greek philosopher .  In his Ionian school, philosophy took precedence over all other studies.  Thales was renowned for his knowledge of human nature and its humor.  For example, the maxim Aknow thyself@ is reported to originate with Thales.  Other quotes credited to Thales include his council that people could lead righteous lives by "refraining from doing what we blame in others@ and his comment of the strangest thing he had ever seen was Aan aged tyrant.@

        As a wealthy and learned man, Thales also played the role as a political counselor and statesman.  He is reported to have convinced the Greek colonies to form an alliance to fight off Persian invaders.  As a military advisor, he used both his mathematic skills and engineering skills to help a Greek army cross a river by constructing a channel and diverting the river into it. There is also a claim that Thales was the founder of European philosophy.  This claim rests primarily on Aristotle, who wrote that Thales was the first to suggest a single material for the universe: water and moisture.  Even though Thales as a philosopher renounced mythology, his choice was the seeming notion that water exhibits, as seen in its ability to be vapor.  For Thales, the entire universe is a living organism, nourished by water.

        Thales= significance lies less in his choice of water as the essential substance than in his attempt to explain nature by simplification and in his search for causes within nature itself rather than leaving it to the gods.  Like his successors Anaximander and Anaximenes, Thales is important in bridging the worlds of myth and reason.  Thales= achievements have been represented by historians in two entirely different lights.  On one hand, Thales is represented as a marvelous anticipation of modern scientific thinking.  In the other light, he is nothing more than a rationalization of a myth.  According to Guthrie, one may say that Aideas of Thales and other Milesians created a bridge between the two words-the world of myth and the world of mind.@

        As far as any one knows, Thales wrote nothing, and no writer earlier than Aristotle knows anything of him as a scientific man and a philosopher; in older tradition he is simply an engineer and an inventor.  Even Aristotle does not pretend to understand how Thales arrived at the views he ascribes to him or by what arguments they were supported.  This makes it hard to doubt that Aristotle was correctly informed with regard to the few points about them he mentions.  Although Thales may be a myth, he is definitely credited with  phenomenal thinking.  He has definitely contributed  not only to mathematics, but also to politics and philosophy.  Thales was known as one of the ASeven Wise Men of Greece@ and will always be remembered for his unbelievable contributions  to the world of mathematics and the world of  philosophy.

 

References 

1.  Burnet, John.  AThales.@ Exploring Plato=s Dialogues. Online. Internet. Burnetch1.html. 29 March 2000.

2.  Encyclopedia Britannica. AThales of Miletus.@ Online. Internet. Britannica.com.29 March 2000.

3.  Gale Group.  AThales.@ Biography Resource Center. Online. Internet. Biography.com.  29 March 2000.

4.  Gale Group.  AThales of Miletus.@ Biography Resource Center. Online. Internet.Biography.com. 29 March 2000.

5.  Guthrie, W.K.C. AThales of Miletus.@ Online. Internet. Thales 2.html. 8 February 2000.

6.  Kirk and Raven. AThales: First Philosopher/Scientist.@ Online. Internet. Thales 2.html. 8 February 2000.