Thales and the Battle of the Eclipse

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On May 28, in the year 585 BCE, there was a total solar eclipse during a battle between the kingdoms of Media and Lydia. This eclipse had been predicted by Thales of Miletus, and it led to the ends of both the battle and the war. Maybe. 

Research:

  • "Thales of Miletus." Math & Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries Around the World, edited by Leonard C. Bruno, UXL, 2008. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1669000047/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=941ff118. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
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  • Airy, G. B. “On the Eclipses of Agathocles, Thales, and Xerxes.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 143, 1853, pp. 179–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/108561. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.
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  • Cantor, Lea. “Thales – the ‘first philosopher’? A troubled chapter in the historiography of philosophy.” British Journal of the History of Philosophy. 2022, VOL. 30, NO. 5, 727–750. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2022.2029347
  • Couprie, Dirk L. “How Thales Was Able to "Predict" a Solar Eclipse without the Help of Alleged Mesopotamian Wisdom.” Early Science and Medicine , 2004, Vol. 9, No. 4 (2004). https://www.jstor.org/stable/4130201
  • Downey, Ed. “Thales of Miletus.” Great Neck Publishing. 8/1/2017. Via EBSCO.
  • Gershon, Livia. “How Astronomers Write History.” JSTOR Daily. 3/10/2024. https://daily.jstor.org/how-astronomers-write-history/
  • Leloux, Kevin. “The Battle of the Eclipse (May 28, 585 BC): A Discussion of the Lydo-Median Treaty and the Halys Border.” Polemos 19 (2016). https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/264738
  • Miguel Querejeta, ‘On the Eclipse of Thales, Cycles and Probabilities’, Culture And Cosmos, Vol. 15, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2011, pp. 5–16. www.CultureAndCosmos.org
  • Mosshammer, Alden A. “Thales' Eclipse.” Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014). 1981, Vol. 111 (1981). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/284125
  • O’Grady, Patricia. “Thales of Miletus (c. 620 B.C.E.—c. 546 B.C.E.).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/thales/
  • Redlin, Lothar et al. “Thales' Shadow.” Mathematics Magazine , Dec., 2000, Vol. 73, No. 5 (Dec., 2000). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2690810
  • Stanley, Matthew. “Predicting the Past: Ancient Eclipses and Airy, Newcomb, and Huxley on the Authority of Science.” Isis, vol. 103, no. 2, 2012, pp. 254–77. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1086/666355. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.
  • Worthen, Thomas. “Herodotus’ Report on Thales’ Eclipse.” Vol. 3, No. 7. May 1997. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ElAnt/V3N7/worthen.html

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