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Thales

Thales of Miletus (; , Thalēs; 624 – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer from Miletus in Asia Minor, current day Milet in Turkey and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition, and he is otherwise historically recognised as the first individual in Western civilisation known to have entertained and engaged in scientific thought, (i.e. empiricism).

Thales is recognised as having made a break from understanding the world and universe by mythological explanations to instead find explanations for the existence of natural things and phenomena by theories and hypothesis, ergo science. Almost all of the other Pre-Socratic philosophers proceed after him to provide explanations of natural things by way of there being a unity of everything because of the existence of a single ultimate substance, instead of explanation given by mythology. Aristotle reported Thales' hypothesis that the originating principle of nature and the nature of matter was a single material substance: water.

In mathematics, Thales used geometry to calculate the heights of pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. He is the first known individual to use deductive reasoning applied to geometry, by deriving four corollaries to Thales' Theorem. He is the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed.

Thales (crater)

Thales is a small crater located in the northeast part of the Moon, just to the west of the larger crater Strabo. To the southeast is the walled plain De La Rue. Thales has a sharp, circular rim that has received little erosion. The lunar surface around Thales has a ray system that extends for over 600 kilometers, and it is consequently mapped as part of the Copernican System. . An area to the north-northwest of the crater is free of rays, however, indicating that the crater may have been formed by a low-angle impact from that direction. The inner wall has some terraces, particularly along the southern side. The sides have a higher albedo than the typical lunar terrain.

This crater has been noted for transient lunar phenomena. In 1892, E. E. Barnard observed a pale haze fill the crater interior, while the surroundings remained clear and sharply visible.

Thales (painter)

Thales of Sicyon, was an ancient Greek painter who is mentioned with the epithet megalophyes, genius by Diogenes Laertius (i. 38), on the authority of Demetrius Magnes. In the same passage, Diogenes speaks of another Thales, as mentioned in the work of Duris on painting ; and it may be presumed, therefore, that this Thales was a painter; but whether the two were different persons, or the same person differently mentioned by Demetrius and by Duris, cannot be determined.

He is placed by a late Byzantine writer, Theodore Hyrtacenus, on a level with Pheidias and Apelles.

Thales (disambiguation)

Thales was a Greek philosopher from Miletus.

Thales may also refer to:

  • 6001 Thales, a main-belt asteroid
  • Thales Academy, a network of private schools in North Carolina
  • Thales (crater), a crater on the Moon
  • Thales Group, a France-based electronics company associated with:
    • Thales Air Defence
    • Thales Alenia Space
    • Thales Australia
    • Thales Nederland
    • Thales Optronics
    • Thales Underwater Systems
    • Thales Rail Signalling Solutions
    • Thales Training & Simulation
    • Thales Communications
    • Thales Spectra
    • Thales Navigation
  • Thales, Indiana, an unincorperated community in Dubois County
  • Thales Leites Lourenço, a Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • Thales (painter), an ancient Greek painter from Sicyon
  • Thales' theorem, a theorem used in geometry
  • Thales' theorem, (not to be confused with the above) usually referred to as the Intercept theorem
  • Thaletas or "Thales of Crete", an early Greek musician and poet