Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The Body Farm free essay sample

Scarpetta’s actions show that she is in good mental and physical shape. For example, every â€Å"morning [she] woke up† and she â€Å"went out for a run in the brisk, moist air† (159). In this quote the author tells the reader that Kay Scarpetta runs on a daily basis. This means that along with being physically fit, she is able to allow her mind to push herself every morning to get up and go running. In addition, Kay Scarpetta was wondering â€Å"if there might be some other explanation for why she chosen this route† (113). In this quote the reader can conclude the Dr. Scarpetta is logically trying to find a reason for why she chose the route that she did. Additionally, the author describes Kay and how there is a â€Å"fierce battle being fought in [her] mind† (168). As a result, Kay’s mind is becoming stronger. Good mental and physical shape is portrayed by Kay Scarpetta’s actions. We will write a custom essay sample on The Body Farm or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By examining Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s appearance the reader can see that she is a wealthy person. For instance, the â€Å"black flight suit† was recognizable to Kay Scarpetta (52). In this quote Kay Scarpetta was able to recognize this specific flight suit since she is able to afford to fly on airplanes a lot. For example, Kay â€Å"still wasn’t certain why [she] had bought [her] charcoal Mercedes 500E† (169). In this quote the author is stating that Kay doesn’t know why she really did buy the car. This shows that she is wealthy because if she wasn’t then why would she randomly buy a new car for a reason that was unknown. Additionally, Kay would wear a â€Å"boldly colorful warm-up suit [she] wore on the occasions when [she] played tennis† (170). This means that she has enough money to buy a warm-up suit for only whenever she plays tennis. Dr. Scarpetta could be thought as a wealthy person by examining her appearance. Kay Scarpetta’s speech shows that she is well educated. To illustrate that she is educated Dr. Kay Scarpetta said that if â€Å"you make those casts, and you’re going to find the impression on the shoulder’s going to match the impression back there on the road† (261). This quote informs the reader that Kay Scarpetta is a well educated woman in this field. The reader can conclude that Kay had special training of some sort to be able to know about how to make and find impressions. In addition, Dr. Scarpetta found out that the â€Å"Bureau knows that I couldn’t have been Lucy’s thumb scanned into the biometric lock system† (373). In this quote the author mentions the biometric lock system. That lock system must be familiar to Dr. Scarpetta since she knew about it and could tell that it was not Lucy’s thumb print. For example, Kay Scarpetta is giving the autopsy Emily and she notices â€Å"the visceral pleura shows scattered petechiae along the interlobar fissures† (99). This means that Kay went to medical school because she knows these terms that only a medical examiner would know. By examining Dr. Scarpetta’s speech it informs the reader that she is well educated. Dr. Kay Scarpetta has several different personalities. For instance, Dr. Scarpetta â€Å"began to dread working late at night† (2). This quote is describing how she is not working as hard as she used to. In addition, Kay Scarpetta â€Å"could not stop wondering what more [she] could have done† (4). This means that Kay Scarpetta was working really hard to try and figure something out. This is another side of her personality. Additionally, Dr. Kay Scarpetta â€Å"got [her] revolver out of the briefcase† (327). In this quote she is taking out a revolver and is thinking about using it, but previously she mentioned that she does not like to use guns. Ms. Scarpetta has multiple personalities.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Tyler Perry free essay sample

Tyler Perry overcame many hardships to reach the Billionaire status he has today. Perry endured many years of mental and physical abuse, and lacked the support of family and close friends who didnt believe in his talent. Tyler Perry was born Emmitt R. Perry Jr. on September 13, 1969 to Emmitt and Maxine Perry in New Orleans, Louisiana. One of four children, Perry grew up with a very strict father. His father was big on sports, and had plans for Perry to be a professional basketball player. At times his father would beat him for hours telling him that he needed to man up. Being woke up at all times of the night hearing his father slap his mother around he had enough. Perry dropped out of high school at sixteen years old to run away from home. Living homelessly on the very rough streets of New Orleans, Louisiana Perry found it too hard to bear. We will write a custom essay sample on Tyler Perry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Perry returned home to deal with more mental and physical abuse. Once he returned home he found out if he put all of his pain and anger into word it could possibly make him feel better. Perry watched Oprah Winfrey Show faithfully every day and said I wish I could be on her show. Little did Perry know that his wish would come true! So from that day on his started keeping a journal this included every event of his life at that time. In the journal he would write about the fights his mom and dad had. All of the beatings he received from his dad, and just daily life situations. Perry confined in his family and close friends the idea to put his journal notes to a stage play. The feedback from them was not very good because he did not have a high school diploma. So a few months later he obtained his GED. Later he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he took a job as a used car salesman and a server in a local diner. Telling his family and close friends that he is saving up to put on his first stage play, I know I been changed, about adult survivors of child

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Yolanda by Oscar Casares Essay Example

Yolanda by Oscar Casares Essay Example Yolanda by Oscar Casares Paper Yolanda by Oscar Casares Paper miolanda by Oscar Casares is a story narrated by a thirty-six-year-old man reflecting on his experiences during one summer in his youth. The story starts in present day before recounting the experiences of the summer he met Yolanda. She was the young wife of Frank, a controlling older husband, who moved in next door to the narrator when he was twelve years old. The narrator thinks Yolanda is beautiful and develops a huge crush on her, so he cant help but listen to Yolanda and Franks fights and make-up sessions throughout the summer since their houses are so close ogether. His feelings for Yolanda grow when she spends time looking after him when he comes down with chickenpox. Ultimately, Frank and Yolanda have a huge fght and Yolanda ends up crawling through the narrators window into his bed for comfort and protection. The narrator also learns of Yolandas imperfections after that night, although now, as an adult, he isnt fond of recalling them. Casares central idea focuses on loss of innocence, the Journey into the adulthood, and the longing to reclaim that innocence by going back to a time when life had not yet left its scars. The central character is the narrator who tells the story, but his name is never revealed. This narrator is round since the reader gets to see not only what he thinks and feels as an adult, but also what he thought and felt as a teenage boy. He is also a dynamic character, changing from a young, innocent boy, into the adult narrator he is today reflecting back on his younger self. His Journey into adulthood began when he meets Yolanda and develops his first crush. A persons first crush is usually not forgotten because it is often this crush that crashes one into the world of adulthood and sexuality. Yolanda came to the narrators bed that night for shelter, wanting to escape the troubles in her life and feel safe, much like the narrator now goes back to that night to escape his own. Yolanda is a major character in the story and is the object of the narrators obsession. She is a round character, shown through the eyes of the narrator as the perfect woman repressed by her Jealous husband, only to be revealed in the end as a deceitful woman with flaws. In the beginning of the story she is controlled by her husband, but she begins stepping out of that subservient role as the story progresses by attaining a Job, wanting to drive nd buy a car, and eventually in the end leaving her role as a wife completely. Her characters struggle is reminiscent of a teenager fighting to gain independence from their parents, even though in this case it is gaining independence from a controlling husband. It is this transformation from being controlled to being in control that makes her character dynamic. The minor characters include Frank and the narrators mother and father. Frank is the Jealous, controlling husband next door. From him, the narrator learns people like him exist; people who will yell at and do everything they an to control the world, even those they supposedly love. Knowing him takes away a piece of the narrators innocence because before knowing him, he did not realize this kind of person existed. Then there is the narrators mother and father, whose roles seem to simply help propel the story forward by giving more information about Yolanda and Frank. The central conflict of the story is an internal one between the narrators desire to gain back his innocence and having to live with the fact that it is gone forever. He thinks about Yolanda when he cant sleep at night, implying there are numerous troubles in his life that keep him awake. He seems to want to go back in time, even if only in his mind, to before he realized the hardships of life, back to when a perfect world still seemed attainable, his innocence was still intact, and things were different. He tells the story of his loss of innocence and entry into the world of adulthood, but the conflict is ultimately left unresolved. The reader is left to assume that his internal conflict will continue and he will continue to think about Yolanda when he cant sleep at night, since the memory of that night is the last time he felt safe [enough] to fall asleep.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Country of Jordan - Facts and History

The Country of Jordan - Facts and History The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a stable oasis in the Middle East, and its government often plays the role of mediator between neighboring countries and factions.   Jordan came into being in the 20th century as part of the French and British division of the Arabian Peninsula; Jordan became a British Mandate under the UNs approval until 1946, when it became independent. Capital and Major Cities Capital:   Amman, population 2.5 million Major cities: Az Zarqa, 1.65 million Irbid, 650,000 Ar Ramtha, 120,000 Al Karak, 109,000 Government The Kingdom of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy under the rule of King Abdullah II.   He serves as the chief executive and the commander-in-chief of Jordans armed forces.   The king also appoints all 60 members of one of the two houses of Parliament, the Majlis al-Aayan or Assembly of Notables. The other house of Parliament, the Majlis al-Nuwaab or Chamber of Deputies, has 120 members who are directly elected by the people.   Jordan has a multi-party system, although the majority of politicians run as independents.   By law, political parties can not be based on religion. Jordans court system is independent of the king, and includes a supreme court called the Court of Cassation, as well as several Courts of Appeal.   The lower courts are divided by the types of cases they hear into civil and sharia courts.   Civil courts decide criminal matters as well as some types of civil cases, including those that involve parties from different religions.   Sharia courts have jurisdiction over Muslim citizens only and hear cases involving marriage, divorce, inheritance, and charitable giving (waqf). Population The population of Jordan is estimated at 6.5 million as of 2012.   As a relatively stable part of a chaotic region, Jordan plays host to enormous numbers of refugees, as well.   Almost 2 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, many since 1948, and more than 300,000 of them still live in refugee camps.   They have been joined by some 15,000 Lebanese, 700,000 Iraqis, and most recently, 500,000 Syrians. About 98% of Jordanians are Arabs, with small populations of Circassians, Armenians, and Kurds making up the remaining 2%.   Approximately 83% of the population lives in urban areas.   The population growth rate is a very modest 0.14% as of 2013. Languages Jordans official language is Arabic.   English is the most commonly used second language  and is widely spoken by middle and upper-class Jordanians. Religion Approximately 92% of Jordanians are Sunni Muslim, and Islam is the official religion of Jordan.   This number has rapidly increased over recent decades, as Christians formed 30% of the population as recently as 1950.   Today, just 6% of Jordanians are Christians - mostly Greek Orthodox, with smaller communities from other Orthodox churches.   The remaining 2% of the population are mostly Bahai or Druze. Geography Jordan has a total area of 89,342 square kilometers (34,495 square miles)  and is not quite landlocked.   Its only port city is Aqaba, situated on the narrow Gulf of Aqaba, which empties into the Red Sea.   Jordans coastline stretches just 26 kilometers, or 16 miles. To the south and east, Jordan borders on Saudi Arabia.   To the west is Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.   On the northern border sits Syria, while to the east is Iraq. Eastern Jordan is characterized by desert terrain, dotted with oases.   The western highland area is more suitable for agriculture  and boasts a Mediterranean climate and evergreen forests.   The highest point in Jordan is Jabal Umm al Dami, at 1,854 meters (6,083 feet) above sea level.   The lowest is the Dead Sea, at -420 meters (-1,378 feet). Climate The climate shades from Mediterranean to desert moving west to east across Jordan.   In the northwest, an average of about 500 mm (20 inches) or rain falls per year, while in the east the average is just 120 mm (4.7 inches).   Most of the precipitation falls between November and April  and may include snow at higher elevations. The highest recorded temperature in Amman, Jordan was 41.7 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit).   The lowest was -5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit). Economy The World Bank labels Jordan an upper middle-income country, and its economy has grown slowly but steadily at about 2 to 4% per year over the past decade.   The kingdom has a small, struggling agricultural and industrial base, due in large part to its shortages of fresh water and oil.   Jordans per capita income is $6,100 US.   Its official unemployment rate is 12.5%, although the youth unemployment rate is closer to 30%.   Approximately 14% of Jordanians live below the poverty line. The government employs up to two-thirds of the Jordanian workforce, although King Abdullah has moved to privatize industry.   About 77% of Jordans workers are employed in the service sector, including trade and finance, transportation, public utilities, etc.   Tourism at sites such as the famous city of Petra accounts for about 12% of Jordans gross domestic product. Jordan hopes to improve its economic situation in coming years by bring four nuclear power plants on-line, which will reduce expensive diesel imports from Saudi Arabia, and by beginning to exploit its oil-shale reserves.   In the meanwhile, it relies on foreign aid. Jordans currency is the dinar, which has an exchange rate of 1 dinar 1.41 USD. History Archaeological evidence shows that humans have lived in what is now Jordan for at least 90,000 years.   This evidence includes Paleolithic tools such as knives, hand-axes, and scrapers made of flint and basalt. Jordan is part of the Fertile Crescent, one of the world regions were agriculture likely originated during the Neolithic period (8,500 - 4,500 BCE).   People in the area likely domesticated grains, peas, lentils, goats, and later cats to protect their stored food from rodents.   Jordans written history begins in Biblical times, with the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom, which are mentioned in the Old Testament.   The Roman Empire conquered much of what is now Jordan, even taking in 103 CE the powerful trading kingdom of the Nabateans, whose capital was the intricately carved city of Petra. After the Prophet Muhammad died, the first Muslim dynasty created the Umayyad Empire (661 - 750 CE), which included what is now Jordan.   Amman became a major provincial city in the Umayyad region called Al-Urdun, or Jordan.   When the Abbasid Empire (750 - 1258) moved its capital away from Damascus to Baghdad, to be closer to the center of their expanding empire, Jordan fell into obscurity. The Mongols brought down the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258, and Jordan came under their rule.   They were followed by the Crusaders, the Ayyubids, and the Mamluks in turn.   In 1517, Ottoman Empire conquered what is now Jordan. Under Ottoman rule, Jordan enjoyed benign neglect.   Functionally, local Arab governors ruled the region with little interference from Istanbul.   This continued for four centuries  until the Ottoman Empire fell in 1922 after its defeat in World War I.   When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the League of Nations assumed a mandate over its Middle Eastern territories.   Britain and France agreed to divide up the region, as the mandatory powers, with France taking Syria and Lebanon, and Britain taking Palestine (which included Transjordan).   In 1922, Britain assigned a Hashemite lord, Abdullah I, to govern Transjordan; his brother Faisal was appointed king of Syria, and later was moved to Iraq.   King Abdullah acquired a country with only about 200,000 citizens, approximately half of them nomadic.   On May 22, 1946, the United Nations abolished the mandate for Transjordan and it became a sovereign state.   Transjordan officially opposed the partition of Palestine and creation of Israel two years later, and joined in the 1948 Arab/Israeli War.   Israel prevailed, and the first of several floods of Palestinian refugees moved into Jordan. In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a move that most other nations refused to recognize.   The following year, a Palestinian assassin killed King Abdullah I during a visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.   The assassin was angry about Abdullahs land-grab of the Palestinian West Bank. A brief stint by Abdullahs mentally unstable son, Talal, was followed by the ascension of Abdullahs 18-year-old grandson to the throne in 1953.   The new king, Hussein, embarked on an experiment with liberalism, with a new constitution that guaranteed freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly.   In May of 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense treaty with Egypt.   One month later, Israel obliterated the Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian militaries in the Six-Day War, and took the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan.   A second, larger wave of Palestinian refugees rushed into Jordan.   Soon, Palestinian militants (fedayeen) began causing trouble for their host-country, even highjacking three international flights and forcing them to land in Jordan.   In September of 1970, the Jordanian military launched an attack on the fedayeen; Syrian tanks invaded northern Jordan in support of the militants.   In July  1971, the Jordanians defeated the Syrians and fedayeen, driving them across the border. Just two years later, Jordan sent an army brigade to Syria to help fend off the Israeli counteroffensive in the Yom Kippur War (Ramadan War) of 1973.   Jordan itself was not a target during that conflict.   In 1988, Jordan formally gave up its claim to the West Bank, and also announced its support for the Palestinians in their First Intifada against Israel. During the First Gulf War (1990 - 1991), Jordan supported Saddam Hussein, which caused a break-down of US/Jordanian relations.   The US withdrew aid from Jordan, causing economic distress.   To get back in international good graces, in 1994 Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, ending almost 50 years of declared war. In 1999, King Hussein died of lymphatic cancer  and was succeeded by his eldest son, who became King Abdullah II.   Under Abdullah, Jordan has followed a policy of non-entanglement with its volatile neighbors  and endured further influxes of refugees.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Why has political participation declined over time What strategies Essay

Why has political participation declined over time What strategies would you recommend for increasing voter turnout - Essay Example The bill signed into law by Bush which tried to ease the voter registration process by allowing the registration to be carried out when people are getting their driver’s license or even joining the military did nothing to ease the declining political participation. This is so because not all people have time to go in and register even though they are going to get their driver’s license as most are nervous enough about the test to even think about registering as a voter. The other reason is that there are a group of ignorant people who are not aware about them being required to register as a voter before being allowed to vote and by the time they do, it is too late for them to register and hence they simply forego the voting process. Others are not patient enough to go register and they also fore go voting in the elections. The non-citizens make up the second largest reason why political participation continues to decline, the number one being the age. USA has over 20 million non-citizens and majority of them are over 18 years of age which is the minimum voting age. This therefore means that there are millions of people who are eligible to vote but are restricted to do so even though they reside in the US and are also governed by the same leaders they wish to vote for. There are many strategies that can be employed to increase the number of voters turning out to vote in any election in the US compared to the number of people who are allowed to vote. Some of these strategies should be based on the two main restrictions discussed above. The first of these strategies is the complete elimination of the voter registration process. During the period of elections, the election officials should use the necessary legal documents to prove the voter is a citizen and is above 18 years. All these information is available in the government database and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

At the instructions box Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

At the instructions box - Essay Example ERM’s role within organizations is the provision of a reliable framework under which the methods and the processes essential in the management of risks are outlined. Expounding the same, it is a reliable tool expressing clearly the organizational objectives putting into consideration a balance between the potential risks and their rewards (Barton et al., 2002). In its capacity, the primary importance of ERM in business premises is the provision of an assurance that eventually enables organizations to effectively control the risks and maximize opportunities. As a case example risk management at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reveals that if done and managed effectively, ERM impacts significantly in value addition, sound response to change as well as maintaining a steady improvement and enhancing adequate response to changes (Simkins & Ramirez, 2008). Although it cannot be quantified numerically, the assumption of ERM inclusion in any organization is expected to have a negative impact since a robust framework that decisions can be based upon is not provided. In turn, risk management becomes a challenge, as there is no reliable tool to balance and mitigate the process. Internal audit relevance in enterprise-wide management is embedded on three categories of roles, which are distinct, and the executive should remain aware of. The first category concerning ERM embarks on assurance, followed by risk management evaluation while the third category involves the management review of the key risks (Institute, 2004). As an indispensable part under ERM, internal auditing serves as a consultant and in turn; the physical duty to manage risks is left as a management’s responsibility. The relevance of the distinctions is providing a controlled process under which the management will be helped to set up and improve the crucial processes. It serves more of an advisory as opposed to actual risk

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Critical Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Critical Evaluation Essay The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus, in Greek Ionia. Aristotle the major source of Thales’ philosophy and science identified Thales as the first person to investigate the basic principles, for in the sixth century he broke away from explaining the natural phenomena through myths and adopted rational means of explaining it. In explaining the totality of all things, Thales described one primary material substance as the elemental foundation of all things, for he believed that there must be some natural substance either one or more than one from which other things come into being while it is preserved, and he postulated that this primary principle is water. Being an astronomer on the other hand he was believed to have predicted an eclipse in 585BC. It is therefore the purpose of this essay to critically evaluate Thales’ metaphysics in the context of aim, content and method of philosophy then proceed to clearly underscore his unique contribution to the development of philosophy. To begin with, as pointed out earlier on, Thales was the first philosopher to ask questions about the structure and nature of the cosmos as a whole and is known to be the founder of philosophy of physis which is the study of the totality of reality. Being the first philosopher, he affirmed the existence of a unique principle and cause of all things that exist. He said this principle is water because it is wholly from water that life itself comes from and into which it dissolves, he also declared that the earth rest on water getting the notion perhaps from seeing that the nutriment of all things is moist and that heat itself is generated from moisture and kept alive by it, and that from which they come to be is a principle of all things. He got his notion from this fact and from the fact that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of the nature of moist things (Guthrie, 1978: 55). By saying principle Thales meant the reality that remains identically the same throughput the changes in its characteristics and it continues to exist unchanged throughout the process of the generation of everything (Presocratics, 1995: 42). However, despite postulating that water is a principle, he also had two other propositions which came down from his verbatim and these were â€Å"magnet possesses the soul† because it is capable of moving things like iron, and that â€Å"all things are full of goods†. In saying this Thales implicitly implied that his water principle is the source, sustainer and font of all things and that he used the gods in his assertion for the people’s easy understanding of it (Radhakrishnan, 1953: 28). Having looked at a number of Thales’ assertions and their meanings, it is necessary that we clarify the aim of Thales as regards to philosophy. On this point Aristotle states that philosophy has a purely theoretical character, that is, it is contemplation, and that it simply seeks truth for its own sake. Philosophy is not sought because of any advantage that is extrinsic to it, but it is sought just for itself (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore in this sense, as Thales was explaining the principle of all things he did not benefit any wealth from it and this is why he was mocked for his poverty, insinuating that his philosophy was of no practical use to him (Presocratics, 1995: 45). Since philosophy does not bake bread nor fix gadgets but rather aims primarily at knowledge, we then see that Thales without any practical benefits tries to find the origin of all things just for philosophy’s own sake. With respect to content, philosophy wanted to explain the totality of all things, that is, the whole of reality without the exclusion of any part or aspect of it, thus distinguishing itself structurally from the special sciences that instead are limited to explaining particular sections of reality, groups of particular things or particular phenomena. In trying to explain the whole of reality the first philosophers were asking the question, what is the principle of all things? (Reale, 1978: 17). Thales in responding to this question in accordance to the content of philosophy, he said water is the principle, for him, he did not necessarily consider the importance of water in life but the thought which most likely must have struck Thales’ mind are those which link water with the idea of life. Hence he observes that food and semen always contain moisture and that the very warmth of life is damp warmth. Furthermore, the composition of all things is moist and that seeds of all things have a moist nature and that water is the origin of moist. Therefore the explanation of water being the principle of things is what is contained in the content of Thales’ philosophy. Finally, on the aspect of method, philosophy wanted to explain the totality which is its object in a strictly rational manner. What is of value in philosophy is its rational arguments, its rational purpose or simply its logos. It is not enough for philosophy to confirm and find out the data derived from experience on a factual level, philosophy must go beyond the facts and experience in order to discover the reasons, the cause and the principle (Reale, 1978: 17). Therefore, Thales with a minimum amount of factual information was able by reasoning to devise an ingenious hypothesis to account for diverse things as gaseous liquid and solid characteristics of the earth, for he believed that all objects are variations of one basic ingredient-water, for water, if heated becomes steam, thus all entities which are gaseous, in its natural state is liquid, and all things which flow must be made up of it and finally, if cooled sufficiently becomes solid (Popkin, 2006: 336). Having looked at a number of things concerning the principle of Thales, we now have to look at a number of contributions which Thales brought forth to the development of philosophy. Firstly, he is believed to have paved way for materialism in metaphysics, which is simply the view that reality is essentially material, and the materialist held that reality is made up of indivisible material particles which move around in a void and combined together to form all the different kinds of things to be found in the world. In this bold speculation the materialist or atomist in particular were following in the footsteps of earlier thinkers (one of them being Thales) who had posited the key idea that underlying the apparent diversity of the world we inhabit, there is a fundamental unit. Therefore Thales is the man who is credited with being the first philosopher and he believed that this unity consisted in the fact that everything comes from or was in some sense made of water (Horner, 2000: 19). Through Thales we have also experienced the transition from explaining natural phenomena through myths to rational and scientific explanation of the origin of nature. At first when explaining the origin of all things, people in Greece referred to a poem called Theogony, written by Hessiod about 725BC. The Theogony contained myths of the gods and speculates in part about the origin and the order of the universe (Audi, 1995: 595). However, with the coming of Thales, the origin of all things was explained systematically using the method of reasoning. The other contribution of Thales to philosophy is that he began the study of cosmology which is branch of metaphysics. Cosmology is a theory of the process of reality and it deals with the science of ultimate reality as a whole. The study analyses and explains the nature of elements of which reality as a whole is underpinned and it establishes whether there are principles that may give us a fuller explanation of the nature of existence (Audi, 1995: 595). In this sense then, we see that Thales gives an account of his principle in line with cosmology, the branch of metaphysics, this therefore entails that Thales started cosmology as he was the first philosopher. Lastly, on the contributions, Thales was the first philosopher to devote himself to the study and the investigation of nature; he is generally regarded as the first who taught the Greeks the investigation of nature. Although, he had many predecessors as Theophrastus has remarked, he surpassed them all to such a degree that they are forgotten, he is as well considered to be one of the seven wise men to undertake the study of natural philosophy for he declared water to be the beginning and the end of all things (Presocratics; 1995, 42). However, despite an articulate explanation on the reasoning of Thales, his method is likely to be criticized, for the one cause that the reasoning process behind his conclusion that water is the first material principle is unknown, so that it becomes a matter of conjecture. Aristotle had no means of knowing the reasons which led Thales to make his statement and when he ascribes a possible line of thought, to him it makes no secret of the fact that he was guessing (Guthrie, 1978: 54). And when we compare the reasoning of Thales to that of other Milesians like Anaximander, Thales’ reasoning is put to the spotlight that he was just guessing because in Anaximander we clearly see that his thinking goes beyond experience, confirming that he was really contemplating rather than just guessing as Aristotle had put it. Another weakness of his explanation of a single principle that was the cause of all reality, is that he never explained the process into which water goes through to become a component of all things more specifically a thing like fire. Other philosophers like Anaximenes, who said the principle is air, explained that through the process of rarefaction air produces fire and when the air condenses through condensation, it gives origin to wind, the clouds, the water, the earth, rocks and other things. This kind of explanation is what was lacking in the philosophy of Thales. In conclusion, Thales of Miletus was one of the first Greek philosophers to seek natural causes for natural phenomena. He traveled widely throughout Egypt and the Middle East and became famous for predicting a solar eclipse that occurred in 585 BC. At a time when people regarded eclipses as ominous, inexplicable, and frightening events, his prediction marked the start of rationalism, a belief that the universe can be explained by reason alone. Rationalism remains the hallmark of science to this day. BIBLIOGRAPHY Audi, R. (1992). Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, New York. Guthrie, A. (1978). A history of Greek Philosophy. Vol 1. Cambridge University Press, Britain. Radhakrishnan, S. (1953). History of Philosophy, Eastern and Western. Vol 2. George Allen Unwin Ltd, London. Reale, G. A. (1987). History of Ancient Philosophy From the Origins to Socrates. State University of New York, New York.