Thales (624 BC - 546 BC)

Lifespan: 624 BC - 546 BC
Primary Base of Operations: Greek city of Miletos, on the coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey)
Schools of Thought: Milesian School, Ionians, Naturalism
Other Occupations: Business Owner (Olive Presses), Mathematician, Astronomer

- considered by any to be the first philosopher of the Western tradition and the "father of science", also one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
- recognizes a transcendental God, who has neither beginning nor end.
- believed men are better than women and Greeks are better than barbarians.
- attempted to explain events in the world through nature rather than the gods.
- believed the world originated in water.
- attributed by many to be the first to articulate the idea of "being" (the arche) and "becoming" (the world we see). The arche to Thales was water that made all things.