ABSTRACT
Let me now summarize what Thales achieved when acting as a measurer: (a) he was not satisfied with narrative explanations, 1 but (b) searched for evidence pointing to causes 2 ; (c) he submitted his most demanding investigations to methodological rigour, working only with what would be shown to be objectively relevant; (d) he devoted huge energy to working out procedures for gathering information; (e) he must have reflected on the significance of his quantitative results and looked for answers that could be numerically expressed; and (f) he dedicated his whole life to research.
