Talete e la questione delle origini

The oldest mathematical documents go back up to Mesopotamic and Egyptian cultures: the exact nature of their knowledge is still under discussion, but it's obvious the attention to the practical applications of mathematics and to the mystical aspects. It's in Greece that mathematics develop as theoretical knowledge, free from empirical worries. The figure of Thales is paradigmatic: he is the first to introduce geometry from Egypt into Greece, and he also brings a personal contribution to the development of this discipline, by studying some problems in a more general way and others in more practical one.