Plato, Theaetetus, 174a (trans. H. N. Fowler)
Thales (624/623 BC – c548/545 BC)
Thales – the father of science. According to Herodotus, Thales predicted the solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC. The appearance of the eclipse was interpreted as an omen and interrupted a battle in a long-standing war between the Medes and the Lydians. American writer Isaac Asimov described this battle as the earliest historical event whose date is known with precision to the day and called the prediction “the birth of science”.
The story of Thales falling into a pit has been preserved in part because it reminds us that this struggle to find balance is an inherently human struggle which has been around for all of recorded history. The truth of the story does not depend on whether or not the events described in the story ever happened. The truth of the story depends on whether or not the insights communicated by the story still ring true today, in our culture, a culture so different than the culture in which the story was first conveyed.
The story is “true and by true I mean false”!
Credit for opening image
PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we can share it, remotely, at the same time, and think about the Cosmos.
In the meantime, take care of yourself and if you can, someone else, too, because as Adam Smith said, “we naturally desire not only to be loved but to be lovely”.
Stargazing Guy 
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