Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus was a wise thinker from very long ago. He lived in a city called Miletus in Ionia, which is now part of Turkey. People think of Thales as one of the cleverest people from Ancient Greece.

Thales loved to ask questions about the world. He wondered why things happen and tried to find answers using ideas and thinking, not just stories. One of his big ideas was that everything in nature comes from water. He even thought the Earth floated on a big ocean of water!

Besides his smart thoughts, Thales was great at math and science. He found ways to measure big things like the pyramids and to figure out how far ships were from shore. He could even guess when the sun would hide behind the Earth, called a solar eclipse. Thales helped people understand the stars, like the group called Ursa Major, and important days in the year such as the solstices and equinoxes.

Many years after Thales lived, people still talk about his clever ideas. He was one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece, wise people who gave good advice. Thales’ questions and answers helped other thinkers, and his ideas shaped how people learn about the world even today.