The Greek philosopher, Thales was born around 624BC, the son of Examyes and Cleobuline.
While some believe his lineage was Phoenician, most consider him to be Milesian (Miletus, Asia Minor, now Turkey). He came from a distinguished family.As Socrates, Thales did not leave any written documents of his knowledge, so it is difficult to write about Thales, since none of his own writing survives. He was an engineer, scientist, mathematician, and philosopher, the first natural philosopher in the Milesian School. It is also thought that he was the teacher of Anaximander (611 BC – 545 BC). There are those who believe he wrote a book on navigation, but there is little evidence of such a tome. In fact, if he wrote any works at all, they did not even survive until the time of Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC). Whether the book ever existed, Thales probably did define the constellation Ursa Minor.
While some believe his lineage was Phoenician, most consider him to be Milesian (Miletus, Asia Minor, now Turkey). He came from a distinguished family.As Socrates, Thales did not leave any written documents of his knowledge, so it is difficult to write about Thales, since none of his own writing survives. He was an engineer, scientist, mathematician, and philosopher, the first natural philosopher in the Milesian School. It is also thought that he was the teacher of Anaximander (611 BC – 545 BC). There are those who believe he wrote a book on navigation, but there is little evidence of such a tome. In fact, if he wrote any works at all, they did not even survive until the time of Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC). Whether the book ever existed, Thales probably did define the constellation Ursa Minor.
Despite the fact that much of what is known about thalse is pure hear-say, he was definitely well respected in ancient Greece, being the only philosopher before Socrates to be among the Seven Sages.
