Thales of Miletus (c. 624 - 546 B.C.) is acknowledged as an Pre-Socratic philosopher, mathematician and astronomer from Miletus in Ionia. Aristotle recognized Thales as the first person to examine the basic principles. He was the founder of the school of natural philosophy. Thales investigated almost all areas of knowledge, among the many were, new ideas about the earth, Mathematics, and Astronomy. Thales had suggested answers to many questions pertaining about the earth. One of the questions was about, how is the earth supported? Others were about its shape; its size; and the cause of earthquakes. A lot of the knowledge we have about Thales came through other sources such as Aristotle, Anaximander and Anaximenes. Aristotle stated in De Caelo …show more content…
He also acknowledged the Astronomy of Eudemus. Solstices are a phenomenon that occurs naturally on June 21 or 22, and Dec 21 or 22. It is hard to determine the exact date because the sun seems to stand still in its position for a few days making it hard to make the assessment. This was a problem for the early astronomers. Flavius Philostratus states “Thales observed the heavenly bodies from Mount Mycale which was close by his home.” (Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, IIV) Mount Mycale was the highest point in Miletus. This would have made it easy for Thales to make his observations for his studies in Astronomy. It is widely known that Thales was also responsible for the finding of the Milesian School of Philosophy. Here Thales and his students Anaximander and Anaximenes engaged in a new approach to understanding the universe. Together they worked on the nature of matter and the nature of change. All of them had difference of opinion and Thales allowed them to express their viewpoints. Thales was held high for all of his wisdom. He was also a famous Mathematician. He reached to find answers to problems and came across geometry. With this he was able to tell height and distance. His understanding of geometry can be summed up as he says, “Space is the greatest thing as it contains all things.” Some of his findings in geometry were:
1. A circle is bisected by its