Thales biography mathematician

Biography

Thales of Miletus was the son of Examyes and Cleobuline. His parents are said by some to be from Miletus but others report that they were Phoenicians.

J Longrigg writes in [1]:-

But the majority opinion considered him a true Milesian by descent, and of a distinguished family.

Thales seems to be the first known Greek philosopher, scientist and mathematician although his occupation was that of an engineer.

He is believed to have been the teacher of Anaximander(611 BC - 545 BC) and he was the first natural philosopher in the Milesian School. However, none of his writing survives so it is difficult to determine his views or to be certain about his mathematical discoveries.

Thales biography mathematician and scientist

Indeed it is unclear whether he wrote any works at all and if he did they were certainly lost by the time of Aristotle who did not have access to any writings of Thales. On the other hand there are claims that he wrote a book on navigation but these are based on little evidence.

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