Thales of Miletus, The Inventor and Father of Science From Greece

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INDEPHEDIA.com - Thales of Miletus is an inventor who is often referred to as the Father of Science from Greece.

Thales --that's how he is called--- a pre-Socratic statesman, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher from Miletus, Ionia, Asia Minor.

The exact date, month and year of birth of Thales of Miletus is not known. There are sources that say Thales was born in 623 BC and other sources 626 BC (Before Christ).

Historically, he is credited with being the first known individual to have entertained and engaged in scientific philosophy. Thales is known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.

Thales is known for violating the use of mythology to explain the world and the universe.

He explains natural objects and phenomena by offering naturalistic theories and hypotheses.

Nearly all the other pre-Socratic philosophers followed him in explaining nature as a single entity.

Aristotle considered him the founder of the Ionian School of Philosophy, and reported on Thales' hypothesis that the principle origin of nature and the nature of matter is a single material substance, namely water.

Later, in mathematics, Thales used geometry to calculate the height of the pyramid and the distance of the ships from the coast.

He is the first individual known to use deductive reasoning applied to geometry by deriving the four corollaries of Thales' theorem.

He is also the first person known to be associated with the discovery of mathematics with its theoretical and practical uses of geometry.

He is also considered to be the first person in the western world to have applied deductive reasoning to geometry. Hence, he is often considered to be the first western mathematician.

Thales of Miletus died in 545/548 BC when he was around 78 or during the 58th Olympiad.

Biographers of Greek philosophers attribute his death to heatstroke while watching a game. (*)