The eclipse of Thales was a solar eclipse that was, according to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, accurately predicted by the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus. If Herodotus' account is accurate, this eclipse is the earliest recorded as being known in advance of its occurrence. Many historians believe that the predicted eclipse was the solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC.[1][2] How exactly Thales predicted the eclipse remains uncertain; some scholars assert the eclipse was never predicted at all.[3][4][5] Others have argued for different dates,[6] but only the eclipse of May 585 BC matches the conditions of visibility necessary to explain the historical event.[7]
According to Herodotus, 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".[8]
^This date is based on the proleptic Julian calendar, which does not include a "year zero"; astronomically the year is -584.
^Cite error: The named reference eclipsemap was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Martin, Thomas-Henri (1864). "Sur quelques prédictions d'éclipses mentionnées par des auteurs anciens". Revue Archéologique. ix: 170–199. JSTOR 41734368.
^Neugebauer, Otto (1969). The Exact Sciences in Antiquity. Dover Publications. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-4862-2332-2.
^Querejeta, M. (2011). "On the Eclipse of Thales, Cycles and Probabilities". Culture and Cosmos. 15: 5–. arXiv:1307.2095. Bibcode:2013arXiv1307.2095Q. doi:10.46472/CC.0115.0203.
^Panchenko, D. (2004). "Thales's Prediction of a Solar Eclipse". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 25 (4): 275–. Bibcode:1994JHA....25..275P. doi:10.1177/002182869402500402. S2CID 118329282.
^Stephenson, F. Richard; Fatoohi, Louay J. (1997). "Thales's Prediction of a Solar Eclipse". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 28 (4): 279. Bibcode:1997JHA....28..279S. doi:10.1177/002182869702800401. S2CID 118345852.
^"Happy Birthday to Science", by Tom Mandel, at the Chicago Sun-Times (archived at HighBeam Research); published 28 May 1990; retrieved 11 April 2014
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