Thales of Miletus: The Beginnings of Western Science and Philosophy

by O'Grady,Patricia F.

• ISBN13: 9780754605331
• ISBN10: 0754605337
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-07-09
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

'What is the basic building block of the universe?'. Thales of Miletus was the first to ask this fundamental, yet to be answered, question in the sixth century B.C. This book offers an in depth account of the answers he gave, and of his adventure into many areas of learning: philosophy, science, mathematics, and astronomy. Thales proved that the events of nature were comprehensible to man, and could be explained without the intervention of mythological beings. Henceforth they became subject to investigation, experiment, questioning and discussion.Presenting for the first time in the English language a comprehensive study of Thales of Miletus, Patricia O'Grady brings Thales out of pre-Socratic shadows into historical illumination and explores why this historical figure has proved to be of lasting significance.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xiii
List of Abbreviations	xv
Note on the Sources	xvii
Introduction	1	(7)
`The Writings of Thales' and 'Aristotle's Possible Sources for Thales'	8	(21)
The Writings of Thales	8	(6)
Topics on which Thales may have Written	13	(1)
Aristotle's Possible Sources for Thales	14	(15)
Anaximander and Anaximenes	15	(1)
Heraclitus and Anaxagoras	16	(1)
Alcmaeon	16	(1)
Hippias	17	(1)
Plato's Hippias	18	(1)
The Works of Hippias	19	(1)
Bruno Snell on Hippias and 'The Teachings of Thales'	20	(2)
Aristophanes and the Birds	22	(1)
Hippo	22	(7)
Thales... Says The 'ApxH Is Water	29	(16)
Thales's Watery Principle	29	(2)
But What is this 'Nature'?	30	(1)
Material Principles as 'Aρχη - Generation, Destruction and Preservation	31	(1)
The Ancient Terminology and the Aristotelian Texts	32	(9)
Oυσια	32	(1)
Φυσιθ	33	(2)
Στoιχεια	35	(2)
Aρχη	37	(1)
Anaximander, Thales and 'Aρχη	38	(1)
Has Aristotle Misled Us?	39	(2)
Conclusion	41	(4)
Aristotle on the 'APXH of Thales and Some Traditional Explanations of Phenomena	45	(26)
The Cyclic Theory of Thales	45	(1)
Aristotle's Reasons for Thales's Supposition: Preliminary Comments	46	(18)
`The Nurture of all Creatures is Moist'	47	(5)
`Warmth Itself is Generated by Moisture': Heat, Moisture and Spontaneous Generation	52	(6)
`Another Reason would be that the Semina of all Things have a Moist Nature'	58	(1)
Water is the First Principle	59	(5)
Conclusion	64	(7)
Thales and Mythology	71	(16)
Oceanus, Tethys and Styx	71	(5)
Near Eastern Myth	76	(2)
Common Themes in Diverse Areas	78	(1)
Common Mythological Themes	79	(2)
Conclusion	81	(6)
New Ideas about the Earth	87	(21)
Earth Rests on Water	87	(8)
Point I The Earth is at Rest	88	(1)
Point II Others Say the Earth Rests on Water	89	(1)
Point III The Earth Floated like Wood	90	(3)
Point IV Water is Lighter than Earth	93	(1)
Conclusion	94	(1)
Thales's Spherical Earth	95	(5)
Conclusion	100	(1)
Thales's Earthquake Theory	100	(3)
Traditional Explanations of Earthquakes	101	(1)
Arguments Supporting Thales's Theories	102	(1)
Conclusion	102	(1)
Conclusion	103	(5)
All Things Are Full of Gods	108	(18)
Thales's Views on the Soul	108	(6)
Sources and Interpretation	108	(3)
ψυχη in Homer	111	(1)
The Moving Force: Magnetite or Lodestone	112	(1)
Amber	113	(1)
The Influence of Thales's Cosmology	114	(3)
Thales's Successors	114	(3)
`All Things are Full of Gods'	117	(4)
The Life Force	121	(5)
New Ideas about the Cosmos	126	(52)
The Eclipse of Thales	126	(21)
The Ancient Testimony	126	(3)
The Saros Period	129	(4)
Near Eastern Heavenly Observations	133	(9)
Thales's Comprehension of Eclipse Phenomena	142	(3)
Conclusion	145	(2)
Setting the Solstices	147	(3)
Thales's Determination of the Diameters of the Sun and the Moon	150	(5)
The Seasons and the Calendar	155	(8)
Ancient Calendars	155	(1)
The Earliest Greek Calendars	156	(1)
Thales and Greek Calendars: a supposition	157	(4)
Cleostratus of Tenedos	161	(2)
Thales's 'Discovery' of the Seasons	163	(15)
Crossing the Halys	178	(13)
Thales the Mathematician	191	(31)
The Ancient Sources on the Discovery of Geometry	191	(11)
Democritus and the Relevance of the Harpedonaptae	194	(1)
The 'Treatises with Proof of Democritus's Claim	194	(2)
The Travels of Democritus	196	(1)
The Harpedonaptae	196	(2)
Plato and Aristotle	198	(1)
Mathematics and Mensuration in Egypt	199	(2)
Conclusion	201	(1)
Thales and Greek Geometry	202	(11)
The Theorems Attributed to Thales	203	(1)
Definition 17	203	(1)
Euclid 1.5	204	(1)
Euclid 1.15	205	(1)
Euclid 1.26	205	(1)
Measuring the height of a pyramid	206	(2)
The Seqt and The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus	208	(1)
Suggested methods of the utilization of Theorem 1.26	209	(2)
The suggested application of Euclid 6.4	211	(1)
Euclid 3.31	211	(2)
The Sacrifice of an Ox	213	(1)
Conclusion	213	(9)
Scientificity and Rationality	222	(27)
Criticism, Rationality and Science	223	(6)
The Milesian School	226	(2)
Rationality	228	(1)
Induction	229	(3)
Falsification of Thales's Watery Thesis	232	(2)
Testability and Falsifiability	234	(2)
Experimentation and Science	236	(4)
Economy and Multiple Hidden Entities	240	(9)
Conclusion	249	(4)
APPENDIX A	253	(15)
APPENDIX B	268	(13)
Selected Bibliography	281	(18)
Indexes
Index of Passages Quoted	299	(6)
General Index	305