The first event in history that we can date for certain was a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. In the middle of the battle, a solar eclipse occurred and shocked the soldiers into stopping. A peace was worked out because the gods were apparently angry. We know this event occurred on May 25, 585 B.C. According to Herodotus in his “Histories”, the eclipse was predicted by Thales of Miletus. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece (although he actually lived in Ionia, which is today Turkey). He was a philosopher, scientist, mathematician, and astronomer. He is considered to be the first philosopher and the Father of Science. He proposed that events involving nature were not caused by the gods. He was the first to use deductive reasoning. Perhaps that is how he predicted the eclipse. The prediction has been questioned. Thales believed the Earth was flat (back when that was excusable) and did not know that an eclipse was when the Moon went between the Earth and the Sun. It has been suggested that he used the record of previous eclipses to predict this one. They do occur in cycles. However, one must have to consider that Herodotus had a tendency to print legends as facts. I prefer to believe that one of the greatest minds in history somehow was able to predict an eclipse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_of_Thales
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/thales-predicts-eclipse-mystery-ancient-greece
https://historydaily.org/the-power-of-an-eclipse-the-story-of-the-eclipse-of-thales
0 Comments