Kelly Dwyer 624 BC 546 BC Miletus Greece

Kelly Dwyer

� 624 BC - 546 BC � Miletus, Greece � Examyes and Cleobuline �Royal Phoenicia family � Engineer, businessman, politician, philosopher, teacher, mathematician � First of the ancient Seven Sages

� Monopolized presses olive � Suggested the ships navigate using Ursa Minor, rather than Ursa Major.

� Acted as a consultant to politicians � The Persians were conquering Ionian cities � Thales suggested creating a union with a central capital, Theos

� Predicted (within the year) the solar eclipse of 585 BC � Babylonian astronomers were not able to do this � Occurred during a war between the Medes and the Lydians � Caused a ceasefire

� Questioned the base of all things � Theorized that all things come from water � Thought that Earth floated on water � First philosopher to have a perspective not involving Greek mythology � Founder of the Ionian school of philosophy � Taught Anaximander, who taught Pythagoras � Taught his students to question, challenge, and discuss ideas

� Measured the height of the pyramids � In your groups, think about how you might measure the height of the Egyptian pyramids �Keep in mind, you do not know anything about angles measured in degrees � Hint: �Shadows �Similar Triangles

� The diameter of a circle cuts it in half � Vertical angles are congruent Figure 1 � Triangles in which two angles and the included side are congruent are also congruent. � Thales used this idea to find the distance of ships from the shore. Can you?

� Thales’ Theorem � Any triangle inscribed in a semicircle is a right triangle. � Knew there were two isosceles triangles � Knew that two right angles makes a triangle � Modern proof

� Biography of Thales. (2009). Retrieved 2014, 28 -Jan from Math Open Reference: http: //www. mathopenref. com/thales. html � Eves, H. (1990). An Introduction to the History of Mathematics (Sixth Edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc. � Khalaf, S. G. (2014). Thales of Miletus. Retrieved 2014, 28 -Jan from http: //phoenicia. org/thales. html � Lendering, J. (2005). Thales of Miletus. Retrieved 2014, 28 -Jan from Livius. org: http: //www. livius. org/th/thales. html � Mc. Kirahan, R. D. (2011). Philosophy Before Socrates : An Introduction With Texts and Commentary (2 nd Edition). Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Co. � O’Grady, P. (n. d. ). Thales of Miletus. Retrieved 2014 28 -Jan from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http: //www. iep. utm. edu/thales/ � Ross, W. T. (2010, Sept 4). Thales. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from Nature of Mathematics: http: //natureofmathematics. wordpress. com/lecture-notes/thales/ � Thales. (2014). Retrieved 2014, 28 -Jan from The Famous People: http: //www. thefamouspeople. com/profiles/thales-263. php