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Thales (in Greek: Θαλης) of Miletus (circa 635 BC - 543 BC), also known as Thales the Milesian, was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition as well as the father of science.

Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the cosmos through myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. By contrast, using perhaps the first significant explanation of the physical world without reference to the supernatural, Thales argued the case for waterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and as the origin and essence of all things. He also prefigured later generations in that he believed in a spherical EarthEarth also known as the Earth or Terra is the planet on which we live, the third planet outward from the Sun. It is the largest of the solar system's terrestrial planets, and the only planetary body that modern science confirms as harbouring life. The pla and that the moonFor other moons in the solar system see natural satellite. For other uses see Moon (disambiguation). The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. It has no formal name other than "The Moon" although it is occasionally called Luna ( Latin for moon to d reflected light from the sunThe Sun (also called Sol is the star in our solar system. Planet Earth orbits the Sun. Other bodies that orbit the Sun include other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and dust. Not all objects passing through the solar system have been orbitally capt. HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) was an ancient Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC? c. 430 BC/ 420 BC?). Overview Herodotus wrote a history of the Persian invasion of Greece in the early fifth century B. known sim cites him as having predicted the solar eclipseFor Solar Eclipse the alien friend of the rubber doll Betty Spaghetty, see Betty Spaghetty Zambia 2001 eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are on a single line with the Moon in the middle. Seen from the Earth, the Moon is in front of 585 BC that put an end to fighting between the LydiaSee 110 Lydia for the asteroid. Lydia was an ancient kingdom of Asia Minor, known to Homer as Maeonia . Its principal city was Sardis. The boundaries of Lydia varied across the centuries. It was first bounded by Mysia Major, Caria, Phrygia and Ionia. Latens and the Medes.

Thales lived in the city of Miletus, in Ionia. The well-traveled Ionians had many dealings with Egypt and Babylon, and Thales may have studied in Egypt as a young man. In any event, Thales almost certainly had exposure to Egyptian mythology, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as to other traditions alien to the Homeric traditions of Greece. Perhaps because of this his inquiries into the nature of things took him beyond traditional mythology.

Thales had a profound influence on other Greek thinkers and therefore on Western history. Some believe Anaximander was a pupil of Thales. Early sources report that one of Anaximander's more famous pupils, Pythagoras, visited Thales as a young man, and that Thales advised him to travel to Egypt to further his philosophical and mathematical studies.

Many philosophers followed Thales' lead in searching for explanations in nature rather than in the supernatural; others returned to supernatural explanations, but couched them in the language of philosophy rather than myth or religion.

Anecdotes of Thales's life recount that he bought all the olive presses in Miletus after predicting the weather and a good harvest for a particular year. Another version states that he bought the presses to demonstrate to his fellow Milesians that he could use his intelligence to enrich himself.