Thales

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/thales

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Thales born?Circa 624 BCE
2. When did Thales die?Circa 546 BCE
3. Where was Thales born?Miletus, Ionia (modern-day Turkey)
4. What is Thales known for?Associated with theorems on triangles, angles in a semicircle, and similarity
5. What is the key philosophical stance?Naturalistic monism, seeking rational explanations for phenomena
6. Who was Thales and why was he special?Thales was a very smart thinker from ancient Greece who loved asking why things happen. He looked for natural explanations instead of myths, which was a new idea at the time.

Pre-Socratic Philosophy: Ancient Greek philosophy preceding Socrates, focused on cosmology and the nature of reality.
Arche: The fundamental principle, origin, or substance from which all things are derived.
Monism: The philosophical view that reality is ultimately composed of a single substance or principle.
Naturalistic Explanation: An explanation of phenomena based on natural laws and processes, rather than supernatural or divine intervention.