Dungeons and Dragons Research: Thales

Thales is one of the first Natural Philosophers. He traveled extensively in Egypt and Mesopotamia and brought back Geometry and Astronomy with him. The Ancient Egyptians also taught him the principles of Astronomy they learned from a very wise man in the past. Thales is famous for laying down the basics of Geometry in Greek terms. Incuding a theorem that is still called Thales' Theorem today. It states that if the vertex of an angle moves in a semi-circle, and the end points of its arms remain at the end-points of the diameter, then the angle remains unaltered at the right angle.

The circle of this construction is known as the circle of Thales. Further, Thales also said that:

1. When two straight lines intersect one another the opposite angles are equal, and . . .
2. That two triangles having two angles and one side that are respectively equal are themselves equal; and .
3. that the sum of the angles in a triangle is equal to two right angles, and . . .
4. That is a circle is bisected by it's diameter, and . . .
5. that the angles at the base of an isoseles triangle are equal.

Thales influenced Greek Mathematics and Western Civilization by explaining the foundations of geometry and trigonometry. In his old age, he went by the name sophos, which means "sage." Thales spoke often of living a virtuous life and encouraged everyone to live to be true to themselves. His most famous quote: "The most difficult thing to do is to know thyself." -- Thales

External Links:

• Thales, the first philosopher
• Wikipedia entry on Thales.
• The internet encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on Thales.
• A summary of Thales from the MacTutor of Mathemetical History.