Thales the Measurer

<p><em>Thales the Measurer</em> offers a comprehensive and iconoclastic account of Thales of Miletus considering the full extent of our evidence to build a new picture of his intellectual interests and activity.</p><p>Thales is most commonly associated with the claim that ‘everything is water’ but closer examination of the evidence that we have suggests that he could not have said anything of the sort. His real interests and his real innovations lay in challenges of quantitative measurement especially measurements related to the movement of the sun. In this he had no predecessors – and for centuries to follow no real successors either.</p><p>This book is of interest for scholars in the history of philosophy science and life sciences. It is aimed especially at researchers in the field but is also accessible to students and a more general readership.</p>