Thales short biography. Thales - The first Greek and Western philosopher and scientist

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Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman

discipline: "Philosophy"

Thales of Miletus

Completed:

student of group RK9-62

Anufrieva E.Yu.

Biography

Thales lived at the very end of the 7th-first half of the 6th century. BC e. He was the first mathematician and physicist, as well as a philosopher in Ionia (Miletus - Asia Minor). In Miletus, he was recorded among the citizens when he appeared there with Neleus, who was expelled from Phoenicia. However, the majority claims that he was a native of Miletus, and, moreover, from a noble family.

Moving away from public affairs, he turned to the speculation of nature. According to one opinion, not a single work has remained of him, for the “Naval Astronomy” attributed to him belongs, they say, to Phocus of Samos. (And he was known to Callimachus as the discoverer of Ursa Minor, as can be seen from such verses in Yambas: In a heavenly chariot, he discovered the stars, By which the Phoenicians rule the way to the sea.).

According to another opinion, he wrote only two books: "On the Solstice" and "On the Equinox", considering the rest incomprehensible.

Some believe that he was the first to engage in astronomy, predicting eclipses and solstices (as Evdem claims in the History of Astronomy, and Xenophanes and Herodotus admire him for this; Heraclitus and Democritus testify to the same). Some also claim that he was the first to declare the soul immortal (including the poet Kheril). He first found the path of the sun from solstice to solstice; he was the first (according to some) to declare that the size of the sun is one seven hundred and twentieth part [of the solar circular path, and the size of the moon is the same part] of the lunar path. He was the first to call the last day of the month "thirtieth." He was the first, as some say, began to talk about nature.

Aristotle and Hippias claim that he attributed the soul even to inanimate bodies, referring to the magnet and to amber. Pamphila says that he, having learned geometry from the Egyptians, was the first to inscribe right triangle in a circle and for this he sacrificed a bull. However, others, including Apollodorus the Calculator, attribute this to Pythagoras; Pythagoras also put into use, for the most part, what Callimachus in the Iambas considers the discovery of Euphorbus of Phrygia, for example, versatile figures, triangles, and everything related to the science of lines.

It can be thought that in state affairs he was the best adviser. So, when Croesus invited the Milesians to an alliance, Thales opposed this and thereby saved the city after the victory of Cyrus. However, in the narrative of Heraclides, he himself says that he lived in solitude as a simple citizen. Some believe that he was married and had a son Cybisthes, while others - that he remained unmarried, and adopted his sister's son; when asked why he does not have children, he replied: "Because I love them"; when his mother forced him to marry, he is said to have replied: "Too early!", and when she approached him as an adult, he replied: "Too late!" And Jerome of Rhodes (in Book II of "Scattered Notes") reports that, wanting to show that getting rich is not at all difficult, he once foresaw big harvest Oliver rented all the oil presses and made a lot of money.

He considered water to be the beginning of everything, and considered the world animated and full of deities. He is said to have discovered the length of the year and divided it into three hundred and sixty-five days.

He had no teachers, except for the fact that he traveled to Egypt and lived there with the priests. Jerome says that he measured the height of the pyramids by their shadow, waiting for the hour when our shadow is the same length as us. He also lived with Thrasybulus, the Milesian tyrant (according to Minius).

The following sayings are known:

1. Older than all things is God, for he is not born. The most beautiful thing is the world, for it is the creation of God. Most of all is space, for it embraces everything. The fastest is the mind, because it runs around everything. The strongest of all is inevitability, for it dominates everything. The wisest thing is time, for it reveals everything.

2. He said that there is no difference between life and death. "Why don't you die?" they asked him. "That's why," Thales said. When asked what came first, night or day, he replied: "Night is one day earlier." Someone asked him if it was possible to hide a bad deed from the gods. "Not even a bad thought!" Thales said.

3. An adulterer asked him: "Shouldn't I swear that I never fornicated?" Thales replied: "Adultery is no better than perjury."

4. He was asked what is difficult in the world? - "Know thyself". What is easy? - Advise others. What is the most enjoyable? -- "Luck". What is divine? “That which has neither beginning nor end.” What did he see that was unprecedented? - "Tyrant in old age." When is it easiest to bear adversity? - "When you see that the enemy is even worse." What is the best and fairest life? "When we don't do what we condemn in others." Who is happy? - "He who is healthy in body, receptive in soul and amenable to education."

5. He said that friends should be remembered in person and in absentia; that it is necessary not to be handsome in appearance, but to be good with a temper. "Do not grow rich in bad means," he said, "and let no rumors turn you away from those who trusted you." “How did you support your parents,” he said, “expect such support from children.” And the floods of the Nile, he said, are due to the trade winds blocking its flow with a counter pressure.

Key Ideas:

Thales learned to determine the distance from the coast to the ship, for which he used the similarity of triangles. This method is based on a theorem later called the Thales theorem: if parallel lines intersecting the sides of an angle cut off equal segments on one side of it, then they cut off equal segments on its other side.

The legend tells that Thales, while in Egypt, struck the pharaoh Amasis by being able to accurately determine the height of the pyramid, waiting for the moment when the length of the shadow of the stick becomes equal to its height, and then measured the length of the shadow of the pyramid.

First - water:

The main idea of Thales was that water is the beginning of everything.

"The beginning", arche, is a very typical and at the same time unusual construction for ancient thought. This is a kind of centaur concept. On the one hand, the Greeks seek and find the origin in something fairly definite, more or less concrete. And this certain at first is merged with some natural element. Aristotle, outlining the “opinions of the philosophers,” writes about Thales: “Thales of Miletus argued that the beginning of existing [things] is water ... Everything is from water, he says, and everything decomposes into water. He concludes [about this], firstly, from the fact that the beginning (arche) of all animals is sperm, and it is wet; so all [things] probably originate [their] from moisture. Secondly, from the fact that all plants feed on moisture and [from moisture] bear fruit, and those deprived of [it] dry up. Thirdly, from the fact that the very fire of the Sun and the stars is nourished by water vapor, as well as the cosmos itself. The essence of Thales' reasoning is that water is really interpreted as the fundamental principle (original principle).

Consideration of the beginning as a material, natural element is the natural course of human thought at the stage when it begins to soar to the heights of abstraction, but has not yet become truly abstract. That is why in the history of philosophy there have been and are ongoing disputes about the "water" of Thales. Some say: the choice of water as the first principle was inspired by the most concrete and real observations. Such, for example, is the judgment of Simplicius: “They believed (we are talking about Thales and his followers. - N.M.) that the beginning is water, and sensory perception led them to this.” Others (for example, Hegel) argue: "water", as Thales understands it, has an indirect relation to everything concrete. The very word "water" is used allegorically. But still the question remains, why does Thales choose water? Many historians of philosophy have tried to answer it:

1. Thales chooses water as the origin, primarily under the influence of mythology. The ocean is a very popular mythological beginning.

2. Greece is a maritime country. Therefore, the Greeks did not need to prove the vital importance of water. Their life was closely connected with the sea. The sea element seemed to them something very extensive: they sailed out of one sea - they got into another ... What is there further, beyond the famous seas? The Greeks assumed that, most likely, the ocean was also a river.

3. The water element is vital and universally fruitful, life-giving. Aristotle, following other doxographers, cites the opinion of Thales about the importance of water in the life of all organisms, including humans. This opinion simultaneously appeals to common sense and to the first scientific (physical) observations. With the moistening or drying of the body, a change in its size is associated, i.e. increase or decrease.

Representation of the universe:

Thales believed that the existing universe (Cosmos) is one. The beginning of the elements, of things that exist, is water; the beginning and end of the universe is water. Everything is formed from water by its solidification or freezing, as well as evaporation; When it condenses, water becomes earth; when it evaporates, it becomes air. The reason for the movement is the spirit "nesting" in the water. Water and everything that came from it are not dead, but animated; The cosmos is animated and full of divine powers. The soul, as an active force and a bearer of rationality, participates in the divine order of things. Nature, both living and inanimate, has a moving principle (soul). Thales represents the soul in the form of a subtle ethereal substance (ether).

How does the theoretical differ from the practical?:

Thales knew a way to measure the height of the pyramids and the distances at sea. It seems that he was a geometer. He predicted a solar eclipse on May 26, 585, to the astonishment of his compatriots, and this gives the impression that he was an astronomer. However, the calculations that he made were made more technically than scientifically: he calculated and predicted phenomena, not being able to substantiate his calculations, not knowing the causes of the phenomena. Measurements were carried out in a similar way in Egypt, and in Babylon - astronomical predictions. It is possible that Thales brought his skills from there. He cannot be considered, however, the creator of the mathematical and astronomical sciences, since their origin dates back to later times. Thales possessed remarkable skills and abilities in these areas, but not scientific knowledge.

How is science different from skill? First, a separate successful observation and a separate true statement are not yet science. There were many such observations and statements before Thales. In order to become a science, they must be related to other observations and statements and ordered. Secondly, the general realization that things should be this way and not different does not create science. This awareness must be analyzed and expressed in the form of statements using concepts. Finally, it is not enough to know something, it is also necessary to substantiate or prove that this is exactly the case. Even before the advent of the first mathematician, everyone who built a hut for himself from two identical sticks knew that they should be inclined in the same way, but this knowledge did not yet give him the opportunity to conceptually formulate theorems about isosceles triangles, and even more so, of course, did not make it possible to prove these theorems. Therefore, in order for the knowledge achieved to be recognized as scientific, it must be streamlined, analyzed and proven. Without this, even the most complex skills are not science. Summarizing, we can say that science requires not only skill, but also understanding.

Science is also different from skills. The goal of science is to arrive at truths that are interesting in themselves. As for skills, we are talking only about practically valuable truths. Skills and habits were developed for practical purposes and for these purposes were quite sufficient. And when they began to be interested in truths in themselves, then a new goal appeared and new way her insights inherent in science. Thales pursued mathematics and astronomy for practical purposes and in practical ways. But after that, according to legend, he tried to get the truth in a field where there could be no question of practical goals - in philosophy. If Thales was a scientist, he was a philosopher. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that the first science that came into being was philosophy: from the point of view of the generality of its subject, it had the least practical significance, but was the most accessible theoretically.

This transition from practical skills to theoretical science occurred in Greece between the 7th and 6th centuries. Did Thales do it? Every time the Greek philosophers, looking for their predecessors, came to Thales, not finding anyone before him. So it is plausible enough, then, that his philosophical theory was the first scientific theory, which appeared in Europe, and maybe in the world.

Influence of Thales on other philosophers:

Thales saw examples and evidence of universal animation in the properties of a magnet and amber: since they are able to set bodies in motion, therefore, they have a soul. This idea of his was developed in the works of many philosophers. For its designation in philosophy, the term "hylozoism" is used.

Hylozoism is the doctrine of the universal animation of nature, the doctrine asserting that consciousness and all-sensitivity are inherent in matter.

Anaximander (610-546 BC) is a student of Thales. Thoughts, ideas of Anaximander logically follow from what was said by Thales, and overflow into what will be said already by his followers, for example, Anaximenes or Heraclitus. Anaximander believes that the beginning is air.

From his point of view, the fundamental principle (arche) of the world is apeiron - this is an eternal, infinite and unified material principle that is in continuous motion. Apeiron is a certain substance that does not have certain qualities and is the source of all concrete things and phenomena. It is a substance with neutral qualities. Things, objects arise due to the constant movement of the apeiron, during which various opposites stand out from it: cold and warm, dry and wet. Thanks to the perpetual motion of the apeiron and the formation of opposites, an endless cycle of worlds takes place in the Universe.

Anaximenes is a student of Anaximander. He believed that the fundamental principle (arche) of the world is "air". Everything comes from the air and returns to this primary matter. Air is eternal, infinite. By its nature, "air" is a kind of steam or dark cloud. As it condenses, the air first forms clouds, then water, and finally earth and stones, when rarefied, it turns into fire.

Heraclitus (544-480 BC) was born in the city of Ephesus, which, like Miletus, was on the western coast of Asia Minor. His main work was called On Nature. About 130 small fragments have survived from this book.

Heraclitus considered fire to be the fundamental principle (arche) of the world. The world happened naturally: it was not created by any of the gods, but always was, is and will be. Everything that is in the world arises in connection with the changes of fire, passes from one state to another.

Thales Milesian universe the beginning

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Thales is an ancient Greek philosopher who opened the list of the seven wise men. He is considered the father of ancient philosophy, the Milesian (Ionian) school he created became a starting point for the history of European science. Back in the 5th century BC. e. the name of Thales was identical to the word "sage", and his wisdom was interpreted both as abstract contemplation and as practical judgment. It was with Thales, as Aristotle believed, that the history of metaphysics began, and Eudemus opened the history of geometry and astronomy with his achievements.

The biography of Thales as such does not exist - there are single pieces of information, often contradicting each other and bearing the character of legends. Historians can name only one exact date related to his life: in 585 BC. e. there was a solar eclipse predicted by the philosopher. As for the time of life, the point of view is taken as the basis, according to which he was born in 640-624. BC e., and the interval in which he could die is 548-545. BC e.

It is known that Thales was the successor of a noble family, the owner of a good education received in his homeland. However, the origin of the philosopher from Miletus is rather doubtful. There is evidence that he lived there not as a native, but had Phoenician roots. Legend has it that the sage, being a merchant, undertook in his life a large number of travel. Living in Thebes in Egypt, Memphis, he closely communicated with the priests, learning their wisdom. It is generally accepted that in Egypt he learned geometric knowledge, with which he then introduced his compatriots.

Upon returning to his homeland, he had his own students, and for them he created a famous school, called Miletus. Anaximenes and Anaximander are considered the most famous students. Legends describe Thales as a versatile personality. So, he was not only a philosopher, but also served with Croesus, king of Lydia, as a military engineer. They created a drainage channel, a dam, thanks to which the Gales River flowed in a different direction. There is evidence that Thales owned a monopoly on the sale of olive oil. He also showed himself as a diplomat, who advocated the rallying of the Ionian policies in the face of danger from first Lydia, then Persia. On the other hand, he was opposed to the fact that the inhabitants of Miletus became allies of Croesus, and this saved the city.

Information has been preserved that Thales was friends with Thrasybulus, the Milesian tyrant, had something to do with the temple of Apollo Didyma. However, there are sources that say that Thales, who loved solitude, did not seek to participate in public affairs. ABOUT personal life the information is also contradictory: along with allegations that the sage was married and had a son, there is information that he never started a family, but adopted a nephew.

None of the writings have survived to our time. It is believed that there were two of them - "On the equinoxes" and "On the solstice", the content of which we know only thanks to the retelling of authors who lived later. There is information that 200 poems remained after him. It is possible that the writings of Thales do not exist at all, and only from other sources an idea of his teaching is formed.

Be that as it may, it is Thales who is credited with formulating the two main problems of natural philosophy - the beginning and the universal. The philosopher believed that all things and phenomena existing in the world have a single basis - water, without division into living and non-living, physical and mental, etc. As a man of science, Thales established the length of the year, determined the time of the equinoxes and solstices, explained that the Sun moves in relation to the stars. According to Proclus, it is Thales who has the merit of the discoverer in proving geometric theorems.

The father of ancient philosophy died as a spectator at gymnast competitions: the heat and, most likely, the resulting crush affected.

The genesis of Greek philosophy can be traced back to Thales, who lived in the Ionian colony of Miletus in the time of Solon (Solon, c. 630-560 BC). We note here that Plato and Aristotle lived in Athens in the 4th century BC, that is, after the defeat Athenian democracy in the struggle with Sparta and before the reign of Alexander the Great or Macedonian (Alexander the Great, 356-323, reigned from 336 BC).

We are going to offer a certain interpretation of the main features of Greek philosophy up to the sophists, placing at the center the question of change and the problem of unity in diversity.

A life. Our knowledge of the earliest Greek philosophers and their teachings is meagre. We have little reliable information about them, and most of their original works have survived to this day in fragments. Therefore, what will be said about them is based on the assumptions and reconstructions of their teachings according to the paraphrases of other philosophers.

Thales is believed to have lived between 624 and 546 BC. Part of this assumption is based on the assertion of Herodotus (c. 484-430/420 BC), who wrote that Thales predicted a solar eclipse of 585 BC.

Other sources report Thales traveling through Egypt, which was quite unusual for the Greeks of his time. It is also reported that Thales solved the problem of calculating the height of the pyramids by measuring the length of the shadow from the pyramid when his own shadow was equal to the size of his height.

The story that Thales predicted a solar eclipse indicates that he possessed astronomical knowledge that may have come from Babylon. He also had knowledge of geometry, a branch of mathematics that was developed by the Greeks. (Arithmetic and zero came to us from the Arabs. Our numbers are Arabic, not Greek or Roman). The universality of mathematical statements contributed to the formation among the Greeks of ideas about theory and theoretical verification. Indeed, mathematical statements are considered true in a different sense than statements about individual particular phenomena. Therefore, the universal statements of mathematics must be criticized differently than it is done for non-mathematical statements. All this made it necessary to develop methods of argumentation and reasoning that are not based on perceived evidence.

Thales is said to have taken part in political life Miletus. He used his mathematical knowledge to improve navigation equipment. He was the first to accurately determine the time by sundial. And, finally, Thales became rich by predicting a dry lean year, on the eve of which he prepared in advance, and then profitably sold olive oil.

Proceedings. Little can be said about his works, since all of them have come down to us in transcriptions. Therefore, we are compelled to adhere in their presentation to what other authors report about them. Aristotle in Metaphysics says that Thales was the founder of this kind of philosophy, which raises questions about the beginning, from which everything that exists, that is, that which exists, and where everything then returns. Aristotle also says that Thales believed that such a beginning is water (or liquid). However, it is not known exactly what Thales meant, if he actually stated it. Given this reservation, we will attempt a reconstructive interpretation of the "philosophy of Thales".

So Thales is said to have said that "everything is water." And with this statement, as it is believed, philosophy begins. For the inexperienced reader, one can hardly find a less fortunate start. After all, this statement, he will think, is complete nonsense. However, let's try to understand Thales. It is obviously unreasonable to attribute to him the statement "everything is water" in a literal sense. Then, for example, this book and this wall are water in the same way as the water in the faucet. But what, then, could Thales have in mind?

Before presenting our interpretation of Thales, let us note a few things that are always useful to remember in the study of philosophy. Philosophical "answers" can often seem either trivial or absurd. If, as an introduction to philosophy, one reads and studies the various answers to questions about the nature and origin of beings, that is, one actually goes through twenty or thirty intellectual systems one after another, then philosophy may seem something strange and transcendent. However, in order to understand the "answer", of course, you need to know the question that seeks to answer. We also need to know what reasons or arguments exist to substantiate the answer.

As an illustration, let us use the following rather conditional parallel. In the study of physics, in order to understand the answers received, it is not necessary to constantly clarify what kinds of questions and arguments exist in favor of the answers. The assimilation of physics basically involves getting to know what questions and what arguments are the main ones for this science as a whole. Once the physics student has mastered the questions and arguments, he can learn the answers to the questions. It is these answers-results that are presented in the textbooks. In this respect, philosophy is not like physics. It has different types of questions and different types of arguments. That is why, in each particular case, we must try to understand what questions the philosopher we are studying asks and what arguments he uses in favor of this or that answer. Only then can we begin to understand the "answers."

But even this is not enough. In physics it is also known how the results or answers can be applied. Thus, they equip us with the ability to control certain natural phenomena, as happens, for example, in the construction of bridges. But what can a philosophical answer be used for? One can, of course, apply political theory as a model for reforming society. At the same time, it is hardly easy to point out how one can "use" a philosophical answer. Generally speaking, the purpose of philosophical answers is not that they can be "used", but that they contribute to our better understanding of certain realities. In any case, we can talk about different answers that have different implications. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance what answers we give to philosophical questions. Thus, a political theory may have different consequences depending on whether it takes the individual or society as its starting point. Therefore, it is important to be aware of what consequences a philosophical answer can have.

When looking at philosophical questions and answers, there are four factors to be aware of:

2. Argument(s)

4. Consequence(s).

The least important of these is the answer! At least in the sense that the answer only makes sense in the light of the other three factors.

Therefore, as a mere answer, Thales' statement "everything is water" is unlikely to contain much valuable information. Taken literally, it is absurd. However, we can try to understand what it means by restoring (reconstructing) the question, argument, and consequence corresponding to it.

It can be imagined that Thales was asking questions about what remains constant with change and what is the source of unity in diversity. It seems plausible that Thales proceeded from the fact that changes exist and that there is some kind of one beginning that remains a constant element in all changes. It is " building block» universe. Such a "permanent element" is usually called the first principle (Urstoff) [In English text the term Urstoff is used, which in Norwegian and German denotes the simplest substance. Its Latin counterpart is substantia, and its Greek counterpart is hypokeimenon, with the literal meaning of subject. - V.K.], that is, “initial (primitive) material”, “fundamental principle”, from which the world is made (Greek arche).

Thales, like others, observed many things that arise from water and that disappear in water. Water turns into steam and ice. Fish are born in water and then die in it. Many substances, like salt and honey, dissolve in water. Moreover, water is essential for life. These and similar simple observations could lead Thales to assert that water is a fundamental element that remains constant in all changes and transformations.

The questions and observations discussed above make it reasonable to assume that Thales operated with two, modern language, states of water. This is water in "ordinary" liquid state and water in a transformed state (solid and gaseous), that is, in the form of ice, steam, fish, earth, trees, and everything else that is not itself water in its ordinary state. Water exists partly in the form of an undifferentiated fundamental principle (liquid water) and partly in the form of differentiated objects (everything else).

Thus, the arrangement of the universe and the transformation of things can be represented as an eternal circuit.

water in a differentiated state

fundamental principle

water in an undifferentiated state

So, the essence of the proposed interpretation of the considered position of Thales is briefly expressed by the formula - all other objects arise from water, and they also turn into water. Note that other interpretations are also possible.

We do not claim that Thales actually started with a well-formulated question, then began to search for arguments, and then came to an answer. It is not for us to decide what was the first for him. We have only tried to reconstruct the possible inner connection of Thales' philosophy.

Based on the proposed interpretation, it can be argued that:

1) Thales raised the question of what is the fundamental "building block" of the universe. Substance (original) represents an unchanging element in nature and unity in diversity. Since that time, the problem of substance has become one of the fundamental problems of Greek philosophy;

2) Thales gave an indirect answer to the question of how changes occur: the fundamental principle (water) is transformed from one state to another. The problem of change also became another fundamental problem of Greek philosophy.

The questions and arguments discussed above are equally philosophical and naturally scientific. Thales, thus, acts both as a naturalist and as a philosopher. However, what do we mean by natural science as opposed to philosophy?

In this regard, we note the following. Philosophy must be distinguished from the other four activities: fine arts, experimental sciences, formal sciences and theology. No matter how closely it may be related to any of these species, it is not the same as them. Unlike the arts, philosophy makes statements that in a certain sense can be true or false. Philosophy does not depend on experience in the sense in which the experimental sciences (physics, psychology) depend on it. Unlike the formal sciences (logic, mathematics), philosophy reflects on its own premises (principles) and tries to explore and legitimize them. Compared to theology, philosophy does not have a fixed set of assumptions, such as revelatory dogma, that cannot be abandoned on doctrinal grounds. Though philosophy always has certain kinds of assumptions that it may never be able to give up.

Since Thales bases his arguments to a large extent on experience, he can be called a "naturalist". But since he explicitly asks questions about nature as a whole, he can also be considered a "philosopher". Note that the separation of philosophy and natural science arises only in modern times, and not in the era of Thales. After all, even Newton at the end of the XVII century. calls physics "natural philosophy" (philosophia naturalis).

However, regardless of whether we consider Thales a naturalist or a philosopher, there is a discrepancy between his answer and his arguments. In a sense, the answer he gave outweighs the argument! In other words, putting forward the mentioned arguments, Thales asserts much more than what he has grounds for. This discrepancy between arguments and assertions is generally characteristic of the Greek natural philosophers.

Even if one settles for the most favorable interpretation, it seems clear that the essentially correct observations that Thales supposedly made did not unambiguously lead to the answer he gave. Nevertheless, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of his philosophy of nature. Indeed, if everything has water in it various forms, then everything that happens, all changes must be explainable with the help of the laws that water obeys. Water is not something mystical. It is tangible and familiar, something we see, feel and use. Water is completely available to us - just like its behavior. Here we are dealing with observable phenomena. (From a modern point of view, we can say that this opens the way for scientific research. Thus, one can put forward a hypothesis about how water will behave under certain conditions, and then check whether this hypothesis corresponds to the actual behavior of water under these conditions. In other words, in the case of water, there is a basis for experimental scientific research.)

What has been said means that everything, absolutely everything in nature, is comprehensible by human thinking. Without a doubt, this conclusion is revolutionary. Everything is knowable just as water is knowable. Nature, down to its deepest phenomena, is permeable to human thought. Expressed in negative form, this thought says that nothing is mystical or incomprehensible. There is no place in nature for unknowable gods or spirits. It was this thought that initiated the process of man's intellectual conquest of nature.

That is why we consider Thales the first philosopher (or scientist). Starting with him, thinking began its improvement. From thinking within the framework of myth (mythological thinking), it began to be transformed into thinking within the framework of the logos ( logical thinking). Thales freed thinking both from the fetters of mythological tradition and from the chains that tied it to direct sensory impressions.

Of course, we presented a very simplified scheme. The transition from myth to logos is not an irreversible event that took place at a certain moment in history, or, more specifically, at the time of the first philosophers. Mythological and logical are constantly intertwined and intertwined both in the history of mankind and in the life of an individual. The transition from myth to logos is one of the tasks that invariably arise before every era and every person. Many even now maintain that not only is myth not a primitive form of thought to be overcome, but that it is myth, rightly interpreted, that is the true form of understanding.

Assuming that Thales was the first scientist and that science was founded by the Greeks, we do not claim that Thales or other Greek sages knew more (by volume) of individual facts than the educated ancient Babylonians or Egyptians. The bottom line is that it was the Greeks who managed to develop the concepts of rational proof and theory as its focus. The theory claims to receive a generalizing truth, which is not simply proclaimed from nowhere, but appears through argumentation. At the same time, both the theory and the truth obtained with its help must withstand public tests of counterarguments. The Greeks had the ingenious idea that one should not only look for collections of isolated fragments of knowledge, as was already done on a mythical basis in Babylon and Egypt. The Greeks began to search for universal and systematic theories that substantiated individual fragments of knowledge from the point of view of generally valid evidence (or universal principles) as the basis for the conclusion of specific knowledge. An example of such obtaining specific knowledge is the Pythagorean theorem.

This concludes our discussion of Thales and his teachings. Let us add that he may not have completely freed himself from mythological thinking. He could see water as living and having a soul. As far as we know, he did not distinguish between force and matter. For him, nature, physis, was self-moving ("living"). He did not distinguish between spirit and matter. For Thales, the concept of "nature", physis, seems to have been very broad and most closely related to the modern concept of "being".

Thus, we have received the following concretization of the four factors of philosophical questioning mentioned above.

We emphasize that the answer (“water is a constant element of all changes”) does not logically follow from the question and arguments. It was this circumstance that caused Thales to be criticized by his Milesian fellow citizens.

From the book Course in the History of Ancient Philosophy author Trubetskoy Nikolai Sergeevich

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Read the biography of the philosopher: briefly about life, basic ideas, teachings, philosophy
Thales of Miletus
(c. 625 or 640 - c. 547 or 545 BC)

An ancient Greek thinker, the founder of ancient philosophy and science, the founder of the Milesian school, one of the first recorded philosophical schools. He raised all the diversity of things to a single element - water.

Modern European philosophy, like all modern civilization, originates in Ancient Greece, from where the very word "philosophy" ("love of wisdom") came to us. However, the first philosophical systems arose in the 6th-5th centuries BC. e. not in Greece itself, but on the western coast of Asia Minor, in the Ionian cities that were founded by the Greeks and in which industry, trade and spiritual culture began to develop earlier than in Greece itself. The largest of all Asia Minor Greek cities was Miletus.

Very little is known about the first ancient Greek philosophers. There is almost no exact information. All evidence, as a rule, is given with reservations.

In those distant times, the Greeks did not write biographies of prominent people. Subsequently, when the Hellenistic scientists undertook to compose biographies, trying to systematize the available information of a historical and chronological nature, it was extremely difficult to establish the reliability of certain information. Later ancient authors could not provide exact biographical data either, for example, the Athenian grammarian Diogenes Laertius (3rd century BC), who drew his information from the "Chronicles" of Alollodorus that have not come down to us. The writings of the authors of late antiquity contain more legends, anecdotes and all sorts of fabrications that have developed over the centuries and are associated with the names of Heraclitus and other thinkers of the distant past than reliable information. It is customary to begin the narrative of philosophy with a mention of the seven Greek sages and the first of them - Thales of Miletus.

Seven Greek Sages - who are they? They call different names. But the name of Thales is repeated, most often included in the list of the seven wise men. Apparently, he was the most popular, the wisest of them. There are many legends about this. Diogenes Laertes in the book "On the life, teachings and sayings of famous philosophers" tells the following, the fishermen found a tripod in the sea; The Milesians decided to give the tripod to the wisest of the sages. They gave it to Thales, he gave it to another sage, another to a third. But in the end, the tripod still returned to Thales. According to other testimonies, the cup of King Croesus was intended for the wisest of the wisest Hellenes, and he returned to Thales in a circle, which is captured in ancient verses: "... and how wise Thales is among the seven wise men in observing the stars." There are several versions regarding the life of Thales of Miletus. Diogenes Laertsky: "Alollodorus in the "Chronology" writes that Thales was born in the 1st year of the 39th Olympiad, lived for seventy-eight years (or, according to Sosicrates, ninety) and died in the 58th Olympiad. Thus, he lived under Croesus, for whom he diverted the course of Galis in order to cross the river without bridges.

It is believed that there is at least one exact date, associated with his life, is the year 585, when there was a solar eclipse in Miletus and when, as they say, Thales predicted it. If Thales predicted a solar eclipse, then he was most likely already a man of mature age. Therefore, the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. and there is approximately the time of the life of Thales and, perhaps, other ancient Greek sages.

Little is known about the origin of the thinker. Diogenes Laertsky: "Thales (according to the consent of Herodotus, and Durida, and Democritus) was the son of Examius and Cleobulina from the Felid family, and this family is Phoenician, noble, neighbors of the descendants of Cadmus and Agenor. He was one of the seven wise men, which is confirmed by Plato, and when, under the Athenian archon Damasius, these seven received the title of wise men, he was the first to receive such a name (so says Demetrius of Phaler in the "List of Archons") In Miletus he was recorded among the citizens when he appeared there with Neleus, who was expelled from Phoenicia However, the majority claims that he was a native of Miletus, and, moreover, from a noble family.

Heraclid's account states that Thales lived in seclusion as a common citizen. According to some sources, he was married and had a son, Cybisthes, according to others, that he never married, but adopted his sister's son. When asked why he does not have children, he replied: "Because I love them"; when his mother forced him to marry, Thales is said to have replied: "Too soon!"

Philosophers often express directly opposite judgments about Thales. Some (say, Aristotle) speak of Thales as a practical man who stood firmly on the ground and was very resourceful in everyday affairs. Other authors (Plato), on the contrary, consider the Milesian a thinker immersed in abstract reasoning, who was no longer interested in practical matters. Thales loved to travel. He visited Egypt Central Asia, tried to collect the remains of ancient knowledge in these countries.

“He had no teachers,” writes Diogenes Laertes, “except for the fact that he traveled to Egypt and lived there with the priests. Jerome says that he measured the height of the pyramids by their shadow, waiting for the hour when our shadow is the same length with us He also lived with Thrasybulus, the Milesian tyrant (according to Minius)."

It is quite possible that Thales, while traveling, ended up in Phenicia (there are even suggestions whether Thales was of Phoenician origin, although most researchers still agree that he was a Milesian). From Phoenician and Egyptian astronomy in those centuries it was already known how to navigate the sea by the stars.

Thales brought Eastern knowledge to Greece (and the first scientific instruments - for example, a goniometer). Remarkably developing this knowledge, he began European science. He was the first who wanted to explain the structure of the world with the help of knowledge - what was previously only told; to replace the will of the gods with the laws of nature - the East did not do this. And finally, Thales was able to remarkably explain what he invented.

In an effort to understand the world in which we live, Thales was primarily interested in what happens between heaven and earth, what the Greeks called meteors (air phenomena). The fact is that Thales lived in the city of Greek merchants. In his search, he was guided by considerations of utility: he wanted ships to be able to deliver their cargo to the port, and therefore sought to find out why it rains, what the wind is, what are the stars by which you can control the ship. Science has no other origin than practice.

The later tradition attributed to Thales five theorems of geometry (including the equality of angles at the base of an isosceles triangle and the division of a circle with a diameter in half). In connection with astronomy, new knowledge, problems and topics also accumulated. For example, among the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Greeks, the lunar calendar was replaced by the solar one. The Greeks have already switched over to a close modern division of the year into months, days, etc., that is, they switched to the solar calendar. And often the accumulation of this kind of knowledge is associated with the name of Thales. Here is the testimony of Apuleius: “Thales of Miletus, undoubtedly the most outstanding of those famous seven sages (he was the first discoverer of geometry among the Greeks, and the most accurate tester of nature, and the most experienced observer), discovered the greatest things with small lines: the cycles of the seasons, the winds of the breath, the stars of the movement of thunders wonderful rumbles, the planets winding paths, the sun's yearly turns, and also [explained] the nascent moon waxing, aging - waning, eclipsing - barriers. , [calculating] how many times with its size [diameter]. The sun measures the circle that it runs through." This evidence, most likely, ascribes to the legendary Thales a body of knowledge accumulated in that remote era by different people. Scholars judge the works of philosophers before Plato by the "fragments" in the writings of later authors. Usually these are short inaccurate retellings of individual thoughts. It is not even known about the works of Thales whether he wrote them at all. It is most likely that he created "Marine Astronomy" (in verse, like all early thinkers), two more of his astronomical treatises were called (on the equinox, on the solstice), but the exact fragments have not reached us. Nevertheless, it can be said that the philosophy of Thales was based on astronomy, which no one had done in Greece before him.

According to Herodotus, during the war of the Lydians with the Medes, “during one battle, the day suddenly turned into night. night, they stopped the battle and hurried to make peace."

However, many doubt that Thales was really able to predict this. Some authors admit that Thales could have predicted the eclipse, but consider this prediction less scientific than practical. After all, even before him, people predicted eclipses, observing a certain recurrence of phenomena, making astronomical calculations.

Perhaps Herodotus, like other ancient authors, reported that Thales linked the time cycle ( lunar months) with the fact solar eclipse. When news came to Miletus of a battle that had taken place because of an eclipse, the rumor simply could not help but compare this with the teaching of the famous Milesian that the Sun is eclipsed by the Moon. Thales really predicted that a solar eclipse could only be expected on a new moon, and the prophecy was confirmed.

Thales and the first Ionian scientists sought to establish what matter the world consists of. He believed that everything that exists is generated by water, while understanding water as a wet primary substance. Water is the source from which everything constantly comes. At the same time, water and everything that came from it are not dead, they are animated. As an example, to illustrate his thought, Thales cited substances such as a magnet and amber: since a magnet and amber generate movement, then they have a soul. Thales represented the whole world as animated, permeated with life. According to Thales, nature, both living and inanimate, has a driving principle, which is called by such names as soul and God.

Thales considers water to be the original element from which the earth arose, which is, as it were, a precipitate of this original element, as well as air and fire, which make up its vapor, the evaporation of water. Everything arises from water and turns back into water.

If water is the fundamental principle, then the Earth should rest on water. According to Thales, the Earth floats in the freshwater Ocean like a ship. Then the rivers turn out to be like leaks in the bottom of a ship, and earthquakes are like a ship's rolling: "The circle of the Earth is supported by water and floats like a ship, and when they say that the Earth is shaking, it actually sways on the waves." Contemporaries listened to his speeches with admiration. Thales tried to formulate the basic laws of the universe, but his contemporaries best remembered his moral teachings. Plutarch in his book "The Feast of the Seven Wise Men" gives the following original statements of Thales:

"What is the most beautiful thing? The world, for everything that is beautifully arranged is part of it.

What is the wisest? Time, it gave birth to one thing and will give birth to another.

What is common to all? Hope: even those who have nothing else have it.

What is the most useful? Virtue, because through it everything else can find application and become useful.

What is the most harmful? Vice, because in his presence almost everything deteriorates.

What is the strongest? Necessity, because it is irresistible.

What is the easiest? That which corresponds to nature, for even pleasures are often tiring."

Thales said that friends should be remembered in person and in absentia, that one should not be handsome in appearance, but good with a temper. "Do not get rich with bad means," he taught, "and let no rumors turn you away from those who trusted you." "How did you support your parents," he said, "expect such support from children." Of the short aphorisms that are attributed exclusively to him, the most characteristic of his genius are undoubtedly the following. "Ignorance is a heavy burden", "Being in power, manage yourself." In antiquity, such a legend was also transmitted about Thales (Aristotle repeated it with great willingness). "They say that when Thales, because of his poverty, was reproached for the uselessness of philosophy, he, having realized from the observation of the stars about the future [rich] harvest of olives, back in winter - fortunately he had a little money - distributed them as a deposit for all the oil presses in Miletus and Chios, he hired them for nothing, since no one gave more, and when the time came and the demand for them suddenly increased, he began to rent them out at his own discretion and, collecting a lot of money, showed that philosophers, if they wished, could easily get rich, but that's not what they care about. That's how, they say, Thales showed his wisdom." Aristotle emphasizes that Thales predicted the harvest "by observing the stars", that is, thanks to knowledge.

Ironically, it was the genius Thales that folk legend made a target for the ridicule of passers-by and maids. This caustic story is transmitted by Aesop, and Plato also transmits it.

"They say that, watching the stars and looking up, Thales fell into a well, and some Thracian - a pretty and witty servant - laughed at him, they say, he wants to know what is in heaven, and what is in front of him and underfoot, does not notice.

The end of the life of Thales fell on the reign of the legendaryly rich Croesus, king of Lydia, who subjugated, in particular, Ionia. The date of the death of the first philosopher is unknown. Diogenes Laertes writes: “Thales died, looking at gymnastic competitions, from heat, thirst and senile weakness. On his tomb it is written: This tomb is small, but the glory over it is immense. In it, the intelligent Thales is hidden before you.
* * *
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Russian philosophy, according to Berdyaev, begins with the philosophical letters of Chaadaev. The first representative of Russian philosophy known in the West, Vl. Solovyov. The religious philosopher Lev Shestov was close to existentialism. The most revered Russian philosopher in the West is Nikolai Berdyaev.
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I am thankful for three things:

firstly, because I was born a man and not a beast;

secondly, that he is a man and not a woman;

thirdly - that he was a Hellenic, and not a barbarian.

Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus (about 625 - 547 BC) - an ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician from Miletus (Asia Minor), the founder of European science and philosophy. Representative and founder of the Milesian (Ionian) school, from which the history of European science begins. Traditionally considered the founder of Greek philosophy and science - he invariably opened the list of "seven wise men" who laid the foundations of Greek culture and statehood, whose sayings and wisdom have survived to this day. Thales is credited with the following:

Older than all things is God, for he is not born.
The most beautiful thing is the cosmos, for it is the creation of God.
Most of all - space, because it accommodates everyone.
The wisest thing is time, for it reveals everything.
The fastest of all is thought, for it runs without stopping.
Necessity is strongest of all, for it overcomes all.

The name of Thales already in the 5th century BC. became a household word for a sage. Thales was already called the "father of philosophy" in antiquity.

Thales was a noble family and received in his homeland a good education. The actual Milesian origin of Thales is questioned; they report that his family had Phoenician roots, and that he was a stranger in Miletus (this is indicated, for example, by Herodotus, who is the most ancient source of information about the life and work of Thales).

Thales is reported to have been a merchant and traveled widely. For some time he lived in Egypt, in Thebes and Memphis, where he studied with the priests, studied the causes of floods, and demonstrated a method for measuring the height of the pyramids. It is believed that it was he who “brought” geometry from Egypt and introduced the Greeks to it. His activities attracted followers and students who formed the Milesian (Ionian) school, of which Anaximander and Anaximenes are best known today.

Tradition depicts Thales not only as a philosopher and scientist proper, but also as a "subtle diplomat and a wise politician." Thales tried to rally the cities of Ionia into a defensive alliance against Persia. Thales is reported to have been a close friend of the Milesian tyrant Thrasybulus; was associated with the temple of Apollo Didyma, the patron saint of maritime colonization.

Some sources claim that Thales lived alone and shunned the affairs of state; others - that he was married, had a son Kibist; the third - that while remaining a bachelor, he adopted his sister's son.

Regarding the life of Thales, there are several versions. The most consistent tradition states that he was born between the 35th and 39th Olympiads, and died in the 58th at the age of 78 or 76 years, that is, from about 625 to 547 BC.

It is reported that Thales died while watching gymnastic competitions, from the heat and, most likely, crush. It is believed that there is one exact date associated with his life - 585 BC, when there was a solar eclipse in Miletus, which he predicted (according to modern calculations, the eclipse occurred on May 28, 585 BC, during the war between Lydia and Media).

Information about the life of Thales is scarce and contradictory, often anecdotal.

The prediction of the solar eclipse of 585 BC mentioned above. seems to be the only indisputable fact of scientific activity Thales of Miletus; in any case, it is reported that it was after this event that Thales became famous and famous.

Being a military engineer in the service of King Lydia Croesus, Thales, in order to facilitate the crossing of the troops, launched the Galis River into a new channel. He designed the dam and drainage canal and supervised their construction himself. This construction significantly lowered the water level in Galis and made it possible for the troops to cross.

Thales proved his business qualities by seizing a monopoly on trade olive oil; however, in the biography of Thales, this fact has an episodic and, most likely, "didactic" character.

Thales was a supporter of some unification of the Ionian policies (like a confederation, with a center on the island of Chios), as a counter to the threat from Lydia, and later Persia. Moreover, Thales, in assessing external dangers, apparently considered the threat from Persia a greater evil than from Lydia; the mentioned episode with the construction of the dam took place during the war of Croesus, king of Lydia, with the Persians. At the same time, Thales opposed the conclusion of an alliance between the Milesians and Croesus, which saved the city after the victory of Cyrus, king of Persia.

The writings of Thales have not survived. Tradition ascribes to Thales two works: "On the Solstice" and "On the Equinoxes"; their content is known only in the transmission of later authors. It is reported that his entire legacy was only 200 verses written in hexameter. However, it is possible that Thales did not write anything at all, and everything known about his teaching comes from secondary sources.

It is believed that Thales "discovered" the constellation Ursa Minor for the Greeks as a guiding tool; earlier this constellation was used by the Phoenicians.

It is believed that Thales was the first to discover the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator and spent on celestial sphere five circles: arctic circle, summer tropic, celestial equator, winter tropic, antarctic circle. He learned to calculate the time of the solstices and equinoxes, established the unequal intervals between them.

Thales was the first to point out that the Moon shines by reflected light; that eclipses of the Sun occur when it is covered by the Moon. Thales was the first to define angular size Moon and Sun; he found that the size of the Sun is 1/720 of its circular path, and the size of the Moon is the same part of the lunar path. It can be argued that Thales created " mathematical method» in the study of the motion of celestial bodies.

Thales introduced a calendar following the Egyptian model, in which the year consisted of 365 days, divided into 12 months of 30 days, and five days remained falling out.

The geometric theorem is named after Thales:

If parallel lines intersecting the sides of an angle cut off equal segments on one side of it, then they cut off equal segments on its other side,

as well as its more general version:

Parallel lines intersecting two given lines cut proportional segments on these lines.

It is believed that Thales was the first to formulate and prove several geometric theorems, namely:

about the equality of vertical angles;
about the equality of triangles on one side and two angles adjacent to it;
about the equality of angles at the base of an isosceles triangle;
about dividing the diameter of a circle in half;
about the equality of the inscribed angle, based on the diameter, to the right angle.

Outside of Russian-language literature, the Thales theorem is sometimes called another theorem of planimetry, namely, the statement that an inscribed angle based on the diameter of a circle is a right one. The discovery of this theorem is indeed attributed to Thales, as evidenced by Proclus.

Thales learned to determine the distance from the coast to the ship. Some historians claim that for this they used the sign of the similarity of right triangles.

According to Hieronymus of Rhodes, in order to solve this problem, Thales measured the length of the shadow of the pyramid at the moment when the length of the shadow of the observer himself was made equal to his height.

Plutarch of Chaeronea presents the case in a different light. According to his story, Thales determined the height of the pyramid by placing a vertical pole at the end point of the shadow cast by it and showing with the help of the two triangles formed in this case that the shadow of the pyramid is related to the shadow of the pole, as the pyramid itself is to the pole. The solution of the problem thus turns out to be based on the doctrine of the similarity of triangles.

On the other hand, the testimonies of Greek writers undoubtedly established that the doctrine of proportions in Greece was not known until Pythagoras, who was the first to bring it out of Babylon. Thus, only the version of Jerome of Rhodes can be considered true in view of the simplicity and elementary nature of the method of solving the problem indicated in it.

There is no doubt now in the history of mathematics that the geometrical discoveries which were attributed to Thales by his countrymen were in fact simply borrowed from Egyptian science. For the direct students of Thales, not only not familiar with Egyptian science, but generally possessing extremely scarce information, each message of their teacher seemed like perfect news, previously unknown to anyone and therefore completely belonging to him.

The descendants of Thales owe him the fact that he, perhaps, for the first time introduced proof into science, and in particular into mathematics.

It is now known that many mathematical rules were discovered much earlier than in Greece. But everything is by experience. Strict proof of the correctness of any proposals based on general provisions accepted as certain truths, was invented by the Greeks. A characteristic and entirely new feature of Greek mathematics is gradual transition by means of proof from one assumption to another. It was this character of mathematics that was betrayed by Thales. And even today, after 25 centuries, when you start proving, for example, a theorem on the properties of a rhombus, you, in essence, argue almost the same way as the students of Thales did.

It is difficult now to say what really belongs to Thales in the scientific list and what is attributed to him by descendants who admired his genius. Undoubtedly, in the person of Thales, Greece for the first time found simultaneously a philosopher, mathematician and naturalist. It is no coincidence that the ancients ranked him among the "magnificent seven" of the sages of antiquity.

Thales is credited with the following provisions:

The earth floats in water (like a piece of wood, a ship, or some other body that naturally floats in water); earthquakes, whirlwinds and the movements of the stars are due to the fact that everything sways on the waves due to the mobility of water;
The earth floats in water, and the sun and other celestial bodies feed on the vapors of this water;
the stars are made of earth, but at the same time they are red-hot; The sun is of an earthy composition (consists of the earth); Moon - earthy composition (consists of earth);
The earth is at the center of the universe; when the Earth is destroyed, the whole world will collapse;
life presupposes nourishment and respiration, in what functions are water and the “divine principle”, the soul.

That is, Thales claims that the Earth, as a dry land, as a body itself, is physically supported by a certain “support”, which has the properties of water (non-abstract, that is, concrete fluidity, instability, etc.).

Position 3) is an almost literal indication of the physical nature of the stars, the Sun and the Moon - they are composed of (the same) matter (like the Earth), while the temperature is very high.

Provision 4) Thales claims that the Earth is the center around which the circulation of celestial phenomena takes place and thus it is Thales who is the founder of the geocentric system of the world.

Although the idea of Thales about the primordial essence seems to us now naive, but from a historical point of view it is extremely important: in the position “everything from water”, the resignation was given to the pagan gods, ultimately, mythological thinking, and the path to a natural explanation of nature was continued.

Thales first came up with the idea of the unity of the universe. This idea, once born, never died: it was communicated to his students and to the students of his students.

Thales also carried out the first experiments with amber, the first physical experiments from the field of electrical phenomena.

The knowledge and views of Thales go back to mythology and tradition, even to such ancient times that it is impossible to fix. As you know, having traveled around half of the world accessible at the time, Thales had the opportunity to get acquainted with various interpretations of such a possible ancient knowledge.

But Thales translated this knowledge into the "plane of scientific interest", that is, from a set of properties common in myths and similar sources, he deduced a group of scientific images for his time. We can say that the merit of Thales (and the first natural philosophical school he created) is that he "published" a result suitable for scientific use. He singled out a certain rational complex of concepts necessary for logical propositions. This is proved by the development of all subsequent ancient philosophy.

Demonstrative stories related to the fame and name of Thales.

One day, a mule loaded with salt, while fording a river, suddenly slipped. The contents of the bales dissolved, and the animal, having risen lightly, realized what was the matter, and since then, when crossing, the mule deliberately dipped the bags into the water, leaning in both directions. Having heard about this, Thales ordered to fill the bags instead of salt with wool and sponges. The mule loaded with them tried to do the old trick, but achieved the opposite result: the load became much heavier. It is said that henceforth he crossed the river so carefully that he never soaked the load even by accident.
There was also such a legend about Thales. When Thales, because of his poverty, was reproached for the futility of philosophy, having made a conclusion from the observation of the stars about the coming harvest of olives, even in the winter he hired all the oil presses in Miletus and Chios. He hired them for nothing (because no one gave more), and when the time came, and the demand for them suddenly increased, he began to rent them out at his own discretion. By collecting a lot of money in this way, he showed that philosophers can easily get rich if they want to, but this is not something they care about. Aristotle emphasizes: Thales predicted the harvest "by observing the stars", that is, thanks to knowledge.

The following mathematical objects bear the name of Thales:

Thales theorem
generalized Thales theorem.

According to Wikipedia and websites: fales-iz-mileta.narod.ru and school.xvatit.com.

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Thales short biography. Thales - The first Greek and Western philosopher and scientist

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