Thales of Miletus A brief history
The first thing I would like to say before I start this paper on Thales is that when dealing with ancient Greek mathemetitions, any "facts" you may uncover are really just educated guesses. The reason for this is, because all records back then were kept on cuneiform tablets. These tablets just did not hold up well over time, and were destroyed before anyone could really make a lasting, permanent record of his life and studies. (2) With this being said, let me share with you some of my findings on the Greek mathematition known as Thales of Miletus. (2) Thales of Miletus was a seventh century B.c. materialist philosopher as well as a great mathematicion. (1) His date of birth and date of death are guessed at between 540B.C. to around 620B.C. (2) This guess at his life time was based off of the 585B.C. eclipse. (2) This eclipse was used, because he was said to have predicted its arrival.(2) He was half Phoenician, and also considered the founding father of Greek mathematics by most Greek traditions.(4) He was not only the first person to receive credit for his mathematical discoveries, but was also considered the first of Greece's seven wise men.(2) The seven Wise Men were a group of Greek Philosoophers and mathemati
(2) His most well known work would be the Theorom of Thales. , Beyond Numeracy; Ruminations of a numbers man. A man of this importance should have his story told in high school, along with the actual problems in mathematics. (2) There just was not a really good way to keep records back then. It really is a shame that I needed to do this paper just to know who he was. Some of the jobs he might have held are: Making a fortune off of olive presses, being a salt merchant, a stargazer, a defender of celibacy, or a farsighted statesman. In conclusion, I would like to restate a few key facts about Thales of Miletus, first, he was a very well educated, and dedicated man. Third, he was a very versatile man given all the different things he would do for a living. His demonstrations made him recognized as the first true mathematician. He did really make a name for himself though by demonstrating "his" theorem of Thales. (4) A prime example of this would be when he masured the pyramids of Egypt by observing the lengths of their shadows when they were equal to the shadow of a vertical stick.
Common topics in this essay:
Thales Miletus,
Pythegoras2 Pythegoras,
Theorem Thales,
,
Theorom Thales,
Greek Philosoophers,
Boyer Carl,
Mathematics Rathbone,
MA--- Mathematics,
Press York,
thales miletus,
history mathematics,
theorem thales,
seven wise,
|
Acceptance Essays
