Magnetism was first discovered in the ancient world, when people noticed that lodestones, naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite, could attract iron. The word "magnet" comes from the Greek term μαγνῆτις λίθος "magnētis lithos", "the Magnesian stone, lodestone." In ancient Greece, Aristotle attributed the first of what could be called a scientific discussion of magnetism to the philosopher Thales of Miletus, who lived from about 625 BC to about 545 BC. The ancient Indian medical text "Sushruta Samhita" describes using magnetite to remove arrows embedded in a person's body.