C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

Thales (c. 620–c. 546 B.C.)

Thales (thā’lēz). The earliest of the Greek philosophers called the father of philosophy; born at Miletus, about 620 B.C.; died about 546. He was the founder of the Ionic school, one of the chief sources of Grecian philosophy. He visited Egypt for instruction in the sciences professed by the priesthood. Besides abstract philosophy, he studied geometry and astronomy, and tradition credits him with predicting a solar eclipse. His ancient biographers mention among his services to astronomy a calculation of the length of the year, and of the interval between solstices and equinoxes. He left nothing in writing.

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