History of Mathematics: A

Presentation on Thales of Miletus

By Alicia Hale

Introduction: Who is Thales?

Thales of Miletuswas the son of Examyes and Cleobuline. He
lived from 624-546BC)
He is considered to be the first true mathematician
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
ofAnaximander(611 BC - 545 BC) and he was the first natural
philosopher in the Milesian School
His family belonged to the royal Phoenicia family

Early Life & Education

Born in Greece around 624BC to Examyes and Cleobuline Thales grew up in Miletus, one of the
wealthiest and most powerful Greek cities. As a young man Thales became a merchant, which
was probably his familys line of business.
In his later years Thales traveled to Egypt, where he learned about astronomy and
mathematics. He may have traveled to Babylon; if he did, it would have been during the reign
of Nebuchadnezzar. After returning from this trip Thales became Ancient Greeces first
scientist. He is credited with being the first man in all of Western civilization to engage in
scientific thought.
Not much is known about the time period in which Thales lived. Getting information about his
life is difficult. I have been unable to find anything to suggest where he received his education
as a child, but it is thought that much of his mathematical and scientific training came from
Egypt or Babylon during his travels.
Upon returning to Greece, Thales set up a school to teach others what he knew and tried to
establish axioms (mathematical proofs). Once these first principles were in place, he reasoned

In regards to mathematics, he reached at solution of problems through

geometry for instance the height or distance was calculated by him through
geometry. He also used the same scientific method that is method of deduction
and reasoning rather than alluding to mythology. Thus he was a pioneer in
discovering new scientific method in mathematics thats why he is regarded as
the first true mathematician. Another remarkable achievement of his was
deriving the theorem, popularly known as Thales theorem on basis of
deductive reasoning.

Contributions to Mathematics

His four main mathematical proofs were:

The diameter of a circle exactly bisects the circle
The base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal
The two pairs of angles formed by two intersecting lines are identical
If one side and the two adjacent angles of a triangle are shared by another
triangle, the triangles are identical.

Thales Theorems

Thediameterof a circle always

subtendsaright angleto any point on
the circle

The base angles of an isosceles

triangle are equal

the two pairs of angles formed by two

intersecting lines are identical

Interesting Facts about Thales:

It is reported that Thales predicted an eclipse of
the Sun in 585 BC. The cycle of about 19 years for
eclipses of the Moon was well known at this time
but the cycle for eclipses of the Sun was harder to
spot since eclipses were visible at different places
on Earth. Thales's prediction of the 585 BC eclipse
was probably a guess based on the knowledge that
an eclipse around that time was possible.

According to a famous story told by

Herodotus of Halicarnassus, in c.547 BCE,
Thales also changed the course of the river
Halys in order to facilitate the crossing of an
army of the Lydian king Croesus.note If this
story is true, Thales must have died after this
year.

Thales discovered how to

obtain the height of
pyramids and all other
similar objects, namely, by
measuring the shadow of
the object at the time when
a body and its shadow are
equal in length.

Thales Legacy
Thales was the father of Greek
mathematics and began the
process of deriving theorems
from first principles that we
still use today. This was only
part of his legacy, because he
taught many of the
mathematicians that would
follow him and build upon his
theories. One of these was
Pythagoras, a name known to
countless schoolchildren
through his famous theory.

Perhaps His most

important contribution to
western civilization is his
attempt to give rational
explanations for physical
phenomena. Behind the
phenomena was not a
catalogue of deities, but
one single, first principle,
which Thales called an
arch, "cause"

He established for the first time that

mathematical theorems require to be proved
before they are accepted as true.

He began the transformation of mathematics

from a practical, applied field of study to one
that could be investigated and explored
without any concern for the practical uses of
the results.

In these ways Thales took great leaps towards

modern pure mathematics, a subject which is
based upon deduction and proof and is not
concerned with practical uses for its findings.
(Funnily enough, although pure mathematics is
performed with no thought given to practical
uses, discoveries in pure mathematics often
turn out to be important in the real world!)

Thales established the Milesian School, where

he taught mathematics, setting the stage for
mathematics to flourish in Ancient Greece.

Thales Outsmarts A Donkey

Very little is known about Thales. I struggled to find any gossip

or scandal about him because of how poorly documented his
life is, but the reason I chose to do this project on him is
because of the story of Thales and the donkey, so of course I
must include it in this presentation.
A merchant friend of Thales once came to him with a problem. He would ride his
donkey to the market with saddle bags filled up with salt. On the way to the market,
they would have to cross a stream. The donkey learned that if he laid down in the
water and rolled, the salt would dissolve and his burden would be much lighter.
Frustrated, the merchant went to Thales for help. Thales suggested taking a trip to
the market with the saddle bags laden with sponges. When the donkey went to roll in
the water, his burden became heavier instead of lighter. The donkey never attempted
this again.

"

References
OConnor, J., Robertson, E. Thales of Miletus. Retrieved from http://www-history.mcs.stand.ac.uk/Biographies/Thales.html
(2012, Jan 22). Thales. Famous Scientists. Retrieved from
http://www.famousscientists.org/thales/
Retrieved from http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thales-263.php
Thales . (2012). Famous-Mathematicians.com. Retrieved from http://www.famousmathematicians.com/thales/
Shuttleworth, Martyn. Thales and the Deductive Method. Retrieved from
https://explorable.com/thales
(2004). Thales of Miletus. Retrieved from http://www.livius.org/articles/person/thales-of-miletus/