Prologue
Thales of Miletus.
Thales, who was born in 640 B.C., was a man of exceptional wisdom
and one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece. He was the father of Greek,
and consequently of European philosophy and science. His speculations
embraced a wide range of subjects relating to political as well as to
celestial matters. One must remember that even up to the 18th century
there was no clear distinction between philosophy and science, both being
products of the human mind in its attempts to explain reality.
Thales had studied astronomy in Egypt so he was able to draw up
accurate tables forecasting when the River Nile would be in flood. But he
first became widely known by anticipating an eclipse of the sun for May
585 B.C., which happened to coincide with the final battle of the war
between the Lydians and the Persians. He had used some tables drawn up
by Babylonian astronomers, but he did not succeed in forecasting the exact
day (May 28th) or the hour of the spectacular event.