A life of its own: The tenuous connection between Thales of Miletus and the study of electrostatic charging

Thales of Miletus, a Presocratic Greek Philosopher, is often credited with discovering electrostatic charging and carrying out the first experiments or systematic observations of this phenomenon. We examine the original sources from antiquity to uncover Thales' true contributions. Thales is likely to have commented on electrostatics in connection to his philosophical idea that even lifeless things have a share or piece of soul in them, but there is no basis to believe that he discovered, carried out experiments on, or systematically observed electrostatic charging. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.