11 important contributions from TALES de MILETO +

This lesson from a TEACHER is dedicated to Thales of Miletus. We will talk about the main ones contributions of this Greek philosopher who addressed different disciplines, such as mathematics, geometry, astronomy or physics. It is considered the first western philosopher and with the initiator of rational thought.

Although his work is not preserved, the authorship of several books is recognized thanks to the writings of other people, such as the historian Diogenes Laercio, who assures that he is responsible for the greatest contributions to philosophy and science. If you want to know more about the main contributions of Thales of Miletus, keep reading!

Index

1. Thales of Miletus: short biography
2. Contributions of Thales of Miletus to philosophy and science
3. Why water is the beginning of everything there is

Before talking about the contributions of Thales of Miletus, let's find out who this thinker was. Thales was more than just a Greek philosopher, since he is considered

He was born in Miletus, a Greek colony with a privileged strategic location Come in Persia and Egypt, which made this area an important commercial point; this made contact with other cultures possible. There was an exchange of knowledge between East and West and the Greeks knew how to take advantage of the knowledge of their neighbors.

It is possible that Thales was of origin phoenician and that he had traveled to Egypt, that is why he had such a high knowledge of math and other sciences. But for the vast majority of scholars, Thales was a native of Miletus. Be that as it may, Thales was a person traveler, which favored the knowledge sharing with other cultures and the open-mindedness of him.

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Among the main contributions of Thales of Miletus to the history of universal knowledge, are the following:

1. Founder of philosophy as to know scientific and rational. Thales measured and quantified everything that happened in nature and questioned the tradition and customs of the time, especially everything related to mythology.
2. Contributions to physics. Thales denied the mythological narratives that served to explain natural phenomena and defended rational arguments. He assured that the flat land settled on the bottom of the sea, and that marine turbulence was the cause of the earthquakes. He was the first to define the general principles of the scientific method, starting from hypotheses to reach conclusions.
3. Start of theology by questioning the mythological tradition and establishing the rational character of the divine, without denying their divinity.
4. Identification of water with the divine. Thales, like his disciples of the Ionian school, Anaximenes and Anaximander, investigates the first original principle of everything there is: the “arché " or "Arche”. For such, the first principle was water, an indivisible unit, an elemental principle, divine in character, capable of changing state and where life originates.
5. God understood like an everything. “Tear is full of gods ". This phrase attributed to Thales of Miletus, in relation to the dynamism that exists in nature. Everything is "animated".
6. Astronomical discoveries. Another contribution of Thales of Miletus is that he observed the stars and calculated the size of the moon in relation to the sun. Also, he calculated the number of days in a year.
7. Contributions to navigation. He assured that Ursa Minor had to be followed, since due to its smaller size it was more precise.
8. Beginning of similarity. He formulates the principle of similarity, which favored the development of mathematics and geometry.
9. Fundador of mathematics and geometry in Greece. He proved his theories from logic, which is why he is considered the first mathematician in history. Various mathematical theorems are attributed to him.
10. Theory about the physical world: he defends the existence of an original principle and generator of everything there is. A first element, which unlike the rest of things, does not change, nor does it ever perish.
11. New method. We end this review of the contributions of Thales of Miletus by talking about this method that tries to find a rational explanation of natural phenomena. His method was inductive, as he points out Aristotle, since, it started from the observable facts, which implies the universal character of the same.

One of the main contributions of Thales de Mileto is the one related to water. For Thales, the Water, is he first principle, creator of life and movement, generator of all that is alive. Water meets certain requirements, according to the philosopher, which leave no room for doubt about the divine character of this element. Between the foundations that offers to give it such quality are the following:

• All beings appear in one of the three states of water, whether in its solid, liquid or gaseous state. Being able to convert the water into steam or ice and return to its liquid state.
• In the universe everything is movement. Water is active, it flows, rises and falls.
• All living things require water.
• The semen that engenders life is liquid, like water.
• After the rains, frogs and worms seem to emerge from the humidity.
• In the deltas, the land seems to spring from the water.
• As soon as the waters of the Nile recede, everything turns green.

Thales of Miletus changed the way of understanding the world in the West, influenced, to a large extent, by the knowledge of the East. Western philosophy is the result of the exchange between different cultures.

If you want to read more articles similar to Thales of Miletus: main contributions, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

• Presocratic Fragments: From Tales to Democritus. Ed. Alliance. 2008
• from Mileto, T. Thales of Miletus.
• Oñate, M. T., Hermoso, M. J., & Arroyo, J. L. D. (2015). Thales of Miletus.