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  • When did mathematics first begin? Is it even possible to say? Probably not. In every ancient

  • culture, there are signs that people used mathematics. They used math to make calendars,

  • to build pyramids, to divide farmland - and don't forget, you need math just to count

  • things! There is plenty of evidence that people everywhere USED math, but it's hard to tell

  • how deep were the theoretical studies of mathematics. The matter is complicated by the fact that

  • most writings from ancient times have been lost. And knowledge existed long before writing

  • - wisdom was passed on by speech. The best we can do is find the first person who is

  • credited with a specific mathematical discovery. That person is an ancient Greek scholar named

  • Thales.

  • Thales lived from roughly 625BC to 550BC (around the time that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon).

  • Thales was born in the ancient Greek city of Miletus, which today is located on the

  • coast of Turkey. Remember, most of the countries of today did not exist during the time of

  • Thales, and those that are still around had different borders thousands of years ago.

  • While none of his writings have ever been found, by all accounts, Thales was brilliant

  • -- one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Thales was renowned not just as a mathematician,

  • but as a scholar who studied many fields. In fact, many consider him to be the first

  • philosopher!

  • Several math theorems are attributed to Thales, the most famous of which is called Thales's

  • theorem. It says that if you inscribe an angle in a semicircle, then the angle is a right

  • angle. Never underestimate the importance of right angles. If you are going to build

  • a large building with nice corners and upright walls, you'd better know how to make a right

  • angle.

  • In a time of myth and superstition, Thales used reasoning to understand the world. He

  • probably was not the first mathematician who ever lived, but his ideas were powerful enough

  • that his name and discoveries survived the sands of time.

When did mathematics first begin? Is it even possible to say? Probably not. In every ancient

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