Illustration of a bust of Thales of Miletus (c.624-c.546 BC), Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and the first identifiable scientist. He is reported to have predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC, and tried to explain earthquakes. He also thought that the Earth was a disc floating in a vast ocean. Engraving, based on an antique bust in the Vatican Museum, from Vies des Savants Illustres (1866).