Everything is full of gods ~Thales The First Genuine Greek Philosopher, Scientist and Mathematician!
Background Information Thales (Thay-leez) Lived from 624-546 BCE Born in Miletus, a wealthy port in present day…
Because of $ = thinking Miletus (the place) given the title of “birthplace of western philosophy” because its wealthy citizens lived lives of leisure and engaged in an intellectual activity known as…philosophizing (Paquette & Gini- Newman, 2003, p.14).
Thales as Explorer Miletus Then on he went to Egypt Eventually settling in Greece
Once upon a time in Egypt 2,600years , Thales wondered… How high was the great Pyramid of Khufu (Koo-foo) How high is it? How do you measure the slippery slope of a pyramid by not climbing to its top?
Answers were found… IV VIII I But Thales did not know this yet and no one could answer his question! He thought and pondered and decided to discover the height of the pyramid by measuring it…
Running in circles around a triangle The Shadow But Thales had a problem-when the sun was near the horizon , the pyramid’s shadow was long
From sun rise to the noon day sun to sunset… When the sun rose in the sky-the shadow was shortened ??? When was the right time to measure? ????? So the geometer Thales ( Mathematician + geometry) “devised a method that was as inspiring in its ingenuity as it was beautiful in its simplicity” (Paquette & Gini- Newman, 2003, p.14). His knowledge of geometry was very practical.
For awhile he was in the shadows “He waited until the length of his own shadow equaled his height and then he measured the length of each pyramid’s shadow. At that precise moment , he reasoned the length of the shadow of each pyramid would also equal it’s height” (Paquette & Gini- Newman, 2003, p.14).
Just goes to show the importance giving one the time of day! Thales was credited with INVENTING a new way of thinking…a philosopher was in the making… But the journey continues… Curious Thales wondered…
What is everything made of?
Many = One All natural substances led Thales to believe that they all shared similarities Many = One And the basis for everything Thales concluded was H2O
He relied on his sense of sight – observation Water appears in 3 forms: Solid Liquid Gas Therefore it is the source of ALL things
Thales’ rational explanation of the world All things come from water Even the earth floats on water like a log.
X = yes incorrect! Wrong Answer!!! Even though Thales’ conclusion was wrong X = yes incorrect! He was given 100% for ASKING the question in the first place and TRYING to answer it however, you won’t be! He became the 1ST person in history to explain natural phenomena using Reason rather than attributing the answer to the gods or myths.
Doctrine of Hylozoism This theory says that matter possesses life, or sensation. Life and Matter are Inseparable Soul is in substances Anecdote: Thales saw metal filings drawn to a magnet…could not figure it out and exclaimed, Everything is full of gods.
Interesting Tidbits While studying the stars Rumor has it … While studying the stars and not looking where he was going…
Interesting Tidbits continued Thales fell into a well but fortunately by his lucky stars he was rescued…
Thales as Businessman and became a wealthy businessman… by predicting a bumper olive crop and buying up all the olive presses available
Thales as Navigator Wanted to know the distance from ships to shore.
Ship to shore Theoretical foundations of physics 5 theorems of elementary geometry
Greek historian Herodotus reported Thales once overcame the problem of getting an army across a river by diverting the flow off water to run behind the army’s encampment until the channel in front was shallow enough for the army to cross.
Herodotus also notes that Thales predicted the eclipse of the sun in 585 BCE
Thales just wanted to KNOW The nature of the substance Matter
Thales is a physicists because of his devotion to cosmology-a branch of physics that deals with the cosmos or the nature of the orderly universe.
“ Thales of Miletus: Nothing is more active than thought, for it travels over the universe, and nothing is stronger than necessity for all must submit to it. org
Characteristics of a philosopher: Wondering…wandering Curious…ingenious…conscious Inventive…imaginative…creative Thoughtful…resourceful…practical Intelligent…astute…rational Observant…creative