Transcript A Famous Mathematician

Important Mathematicians
Then and Now
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T H A L E S OF M I L E T U S
Sample Presentation
By
Mrs. Brewster
Clipart Credit: Thales. Encyclopedia Phoeniciiana
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Lived about 624 BC to 546 BC
in Miletus, Asia Minor (now Turkey)
THALES
2,000BC
1,000BC
0
1,000AD
2,000AD
The first known Greek philosopher, scientist and
mathematician.
The only Mathematician in The Seven Wise men of
Antiquity.
Introduced Geometry into Greece, after visiting Egypt.
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Contemporaries
Pythagoras
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Accomplishments in Mathematics
•Credited with five theorems of elementary geometry:
Proposition. A circle is bisected by any diameter.
Proposition. The base angles of an isosceles triangle are
equal.
Proposition. The angles between two intersecting straight
lines are equal.
Proposition. Two triangles are congruent if they have two
angles and the included side equal.
Proposition. An angle in a semicircle is a right angle.
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More Accomplishments in
Mathematics
He calculated the size of the great
pyramid, for the Egyptians, by using
similar triangles.
Pythagoras was his most famous student.
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Other Accomplishments
•He is said to have predicted an eclipse of the Sun on
May 28, 585 BC, startling all of Ionia.
•Thales is also said to have discovered a method of
measuring the distance to a ship at sea.
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Quotes
Answers Given by Thales
What is very Thales answered, in a famous
difficult?
witty saying, "To Know
Thyself."
What is
very easy?
He answered, "To give advice."
What/who
is God?
He answered, "That which
has no beginning or no end."
(The infinite!!)
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Anecdote:
Aristotle relates a story of how
Thales used his skills to deduce
that the next season's olive crop
would be a very large one. He
therefore bought all the olive
presses and then was able to
make a fortune when the
bumper olive crop did indeed
arrive.
Anecdote Credit:
http://phoenicia.org/thales.html
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Implications for Today
Thales thought up many
ideas which are used by
people today, such as
indirect measurement,
and the idea of Infinity.
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Conclusion.
Reflections about Thales:
Thales was a revolutionary thinker who impressed his
contemporaries by being able to calculate the height of
the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
He is the first recorded person who tried to explain
phenomena, like earthquakes, by rational rather than by
supernatural means.
Philosophy, Science and Mathematics were more
important to Thales than family or wealth.
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Annotated References
Thales of Miletus
http://www.math.tamu.edu/~don.allen/history/thales2/thales2.html ,
Highlights of the life of Thales.
Thales Of Miletus 600 B.C.
http://www.mvrhs.org/netsite/school/departments/Math/Jen's%20folder/thales_of
_miletus.htm
A Student’s biography of Thales.
Encyclopedia Phoeniciiana Thales of Miletus
http://phoenicia.org/thales.html
Conflicting stories about Thales.
Discovering Geometry Second Ed., Serra, M., Key
Curriculum Press, 1997, page 718
Our Textbook
Clipart Credit: google.com
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