Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic natural philosopher, geometer, and
astronomer who unfortunately left no writings. Traditions about him
exist exclusively through ancient authors, so one only gets a rough idea
of him.
In detail:
Thales of Miletus is considered one of the most important forefathers of
Western science and philosophy. His name is inextricably linked with the
cradle of rational thought, and yet much of him remains shrouded in the
mists of the centuries. What we know about him comes from ancient
sources such as Herodotus, Stilpo, Aristotle, and later writers, whose
accounts are often mythically exaggerated.
Thales is said to have been born around 624 BC and died around 546 BC.
This places him in the early age of Greek antiquity, a time in which
mythical explanations gradually began to be replaced by observable
phenomena. In this era of the first city-states, colonizations, and the
emergence of science, Thales traces a line from myth to the explanation
of the world through natural principles.
He came from the Ionian city of Miletus, a cultural stronghold on the
coast of Asia Minor. Miletus was a melting pot for trade, geography,
astronomy, and early natural philosophy. The exact details of his
education are not preserved, but ancient sources suggest that Thales
worked in an environment where observation of nature, mathematics, and
occasionally geometric methods were trained. It is assumed that he
furthered his education through travel and study, as Miletusians were
known for their exchanges with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Thus, Thales is
often associated with Greek thought, which drew on exchanges with
foreign wisdom.