The Ancient Milesian Philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes: A Short Introduction to Their Lives and Works

By Doug West

If you want to learn about the ancient Milesian philosophers Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book, then the short and concise book “The Ancient Milesian Philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes: A Short Introduction” is the book for you. The book includes:
•Aristotle considered Thales of Miletus to be the first philosopher in the Greek tradition.
•Thales was the first known individual in Western civilization that was engaged in scientific philosophy.
•Thales believed that water was the primal substance from which the natural world was derived.
•Anaximander was the student of Thales and is credited with the introduction of the gnomon and sundial into ancient Greece.
•Anaximander believed that the earth was the shape of a disc with the sun, moon, and stars rotating about it.
•The third philosopher from Miletus that formed the Milesian school was Anaximenes.
•Anaximenes said that air is the arche or fundamental substance the cosmos was derived from.
•The three Milesian philosophers are credited with forming the foundation of early scientific thought and natural philosophy.
•And more...
The book “The Ancient Milesian Philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes: A Short Introduction to Their Lives and Works” gives a crisp look at these three early Greek philosophers and their works. To illustrate their story numerous pictures and illustrations are presented that help explain their lives and teachings. In addition, the book contains a list of reference books for further reading and a section that contains short biographical sketches of the key individuals in the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Apr 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005650278

Doug West

Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

Book preview

The Ancient Milesian Philosophers:

Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes

A Short Introduction to Their Lives and Works

By Doug West, Ph.D.

C&D Publications

The Ancient Milesian Philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes

A Short Introduction to Their Lives and Works

By Doug West, Ph.D.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Copyright © 2021 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Early Greeks and the Beginning of Philosophy

Chapter 2 - Thales

Chapter 3 - Anaximander

Chapter 4 - Anaximenes

Chapter 5 - Legacy of the Milesian Philosophers

Biographical Sketches

References and Further Reading

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Additional Books in the 30 Minute Book Series

Preface

Welcome to the book, The Ancient Milesian Philosophers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes: A Short Introduction to Their Lives and Works. This book is volume 53 of the 30 Minute Book Series, and as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book should take less than an hour to read. Since this short book is not meant to be an all-encompassing story of the Milesian philosophers, you may want to know more about these men and their accomplishments. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. The section of the book titled Biographical Sketches includes brief biographies of some of the key individuals in the book. In the text, those individuals who are in one of the biographical sketches will have their name in bold print the first time they appear in the book.

Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoy your time reading about the early philosophers of Miletus.

Doug West

April 2021

Introduction

The ancient Greeks, whether we realize it or not, have made and are still making a subtle difference in our daily lives. Their ideas and views of the world and religion are imbedded in the culture of the Western world. During the sixth century BC in the Grecian cities along the western coast of present-day Turkey and in southern Italy, Western science and philosophy came to life. It would not