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[[Image:Thales.gif|thumb|150px|Thales]]

[[Image:Thales.gif|thumb|150px|Thales]]

'''Thales of Miletus''' (ca. 624 BC–ca. 546 BC), was a [[Greek philosopher]] and [[mathematician]] and one of the seven wise men of antiquity.  He was the first Greek philosopher to take an interest in [[mathematics]] and [[science]].  He was the first to apply logical proof to geometry, and proved the six basic propositions of geometry.  When he traveled to [[Egypt]] he calculated the height of [[pyramids]] using [[geometry]], and would also calculate the distance of ships from the shore.  He was born and lived in [[Miletus]], [[Ionia]], now western [[Turkey]].  

'''Thales of Miletus''' (ca. 624 BC–ca. 546 BC), was a [[Greek philosopher]] and [[mathematician]] and one of the [[Seven Sages|seven wise men of antiquity]].  He was the first Greek philosopher to take an interest in [[mathematics]] and [[science]].  He was the first to apply logical proof to geometry, and proved the six basic propositions of geometry.  When he traveled to [[Egypt]] he calculated the height of [[pyramids]] using [[geometry]], and would also calculate the distance of ships from the shore.  He was born and lived in [[Miletus]], [[Ionia]], now western [[Turkey]].  

==Thales the philosopher==

==Thales the philosopher==

Philosophically, Thales was a [[materialism|materialist]], and a [[monism and pluralism|monist]]. [[Aristotle]] says that he (Thales) was the first to consider the basic principles and originating substance of nature. When contemplating the myriad forms and changes seen in the world, the Ionian philosophers, and first among them, Thales, posited a basic unity and permanence behind the world of phenomena and its changes, something which underlay the changes around them and which remained unchanged through the various manifestations.

Philosophically, Thales was a [[materialism|materialist]], and a [[monism|monist]]. [[Aristotle]] says that he (Thales) was the first to consider the basic principles and originating substance of nature. When contemplating the myriad forms and changes seen in the world, the Ionian philosophers, and first among them, Thales, posited a basic unity and permanence behind the world of phenomena and its changes, something which underlay the changes around them and which remained unchanged through the various manifestations.

Thales sought the causes of phenomena in terms of naturalistic explanations rather than the personal agency of supernatural beings and thus proposed the concept of a law regulated universe, in contrast with the mythological universe of the Olympian deities. In seeking for the basic principle of matter, Thales posited a material entity, water, as this basic substance. This is what makes him a materialist, but it was his concept that there was such a basic substance which is even more important.

Thales sought the causes of phenomena in terms of naturalistic explanations rather than the personal agency of supernatural beings and thus proposed the concept of a law regulated universe, in contrast with the mythological universe of the Olympian deities. In seeking for the basic principle of matter, Thales posited a material entity, water, as this basic substance. This is what makes him a materialist, but it was his concept that there was such a basic substance which is even more important.