According to Laertius, Egypt taught him geometry.

He is supposed to have derived his astrological notions from Phoenicia.

But this he might easily have done without visiting the Phoenician states.
Returning to Miletus, he obtained his title of Wise [190].

Much learning has been exhausted upon his doctrines to very little purpose.
They were of small value, save as they led to the most valuable of all philosophies--that of experiment.

They were not new probably even in Greece [191], and of their utility the following brief sketch will enable the reader to judge for himself.
He maintained that water, or rather humidity, was the origin of all things, though he allowed mind or intellect (nous) to be the impelling principle.