Thales facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Thales of Miletos (Θαλής ο Μιλήσιος)
Thales
School	Ionian Philosophy, Milesian school, Naturalism
Main interests	Ethics, Metaphysics, Mathematics, Astronomy
Notable ideas	Water is the physis, Thales' theorem
Influenced Pythagoras, Anaximander, Anaximenes

Thales of Miletus was an important Greek thinker. He lived a very long time ago, from about 624 BC to 546 BC. Thales came from a city called Miletus in Asia Minor. Many people, including the famous thinker Aristotle, believe he was the very first philosopher in the Greek tradition.

According to Bertrand Russell, a famous writer, "Western philosophy begins with Thales." Thales tried to understand how the world worked without using old stories or mythology. This was a huge step forward! Other early Greek thinkers followed his lead. They also tried to explain the world using logic, not myths. This new way of thinking became very important for the start of science. Thales was also the first to suggest big ideas and test them. Because of this, some people call him the "Father of Science."

Who Was Thales?

Thales was one of the first thinkers to ask big questions about the world. He lived before Socrates, another very famous Greek philosopher. Thales wanted to find out what everything was made of. He also wondered how things changed and why the world existed.

Thales' Big Ideas

Thales believed that water was the basic element of everything. He thought that all things came from water and returned to it. This idea might seem simple now, but it was a new way to think. Instead of saying gods caused things, Thales looked for natural reasons.

He was one of the first to try to explain nature using only nature itself. This was a big change from how people thought before him. His ideas helped set the stage for how we study science today.

Thales in Math and Science

Thales was also very good at mathematics. He used geometry to solve real-world problems. For example, he could figure out the height of tall pyramids. He also found ways to measure how far ships were from the shore. He is the first person we know who made a new discovery in math.

Thales was also the first person known to study electricity. He noticed that if you rubbed a piece of amber, it could attract light objects. This was a very early step in understanding how electricity works.

Images for kids

• 

  Map of Phoenician (in yellow) and Greek colonies around 8th to 6th century BC.

• 

  An olive mill and an olive press dating from Roman times in Capernaum, Israel.

• 

  Total eclipse of the Sun.

• 

  The Ionic Stoa on the Sacred Way in Miletus.

• 

  Thales de Mileto (1906) – Veloso Salgado.

• 

  Thales (Electricity), sculpture from "The Progress of Railroading" (1908), main facade of Union Station (Washington, DC).

• 

  Thales, Nuremberg Chronicle.

See also

In Spanish: Tales de Mileto para niños