Pythagoras

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here. For the Samian statuary, see Pythagoras (sculptor). For other uses, see Pythagoras (disambiguation). Pythagoras ( )

Bust of Pythagoras of Samos in the Capitoline Museums, Rome Full name Pythagoras ( Born Died Era Region School Main interests Notable ideas c. 570 BC Samos Island c. 495 BC (aged around 75) Metapontum Ancient philosophy Western philosophy Pythagoreanism Metaphysics, Music, Mathematics, Ethics, Politics Musica universalis, Golden ratio[citation needed] , Pythagorean tuning, Pythagorean theorem )

Influenced by[show] Influenced[show]

Pythagoras of Samos (Ancient Greek: Smios "Pythagoras the Samian", or simply Ho Pythagras ho ; c. 570c. 495 BC[1]) was an Ionian

Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and might have travelled widely in his youth, visiting Egypt and other places seeking knowledge. He had a teacher named Themistoclea, who introduced him to the principles of ethics.[2][3] Around 530 BC, he moved to Croton, a Greek colony in southern Italy, and there set up a religious sect. His followers pursued the religious rites and practices developed by Pythagoras, and studied his philosophical theories. The society took an active role in the politics of Croton, but this eventually led to their downfall. The Pythagorean meeting-places were burned, and Pythagoras was forced to flee the city. He is said to have ended his days in Metapontum. Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist, but he is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name. However, because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratic philosophers, one can give account of his teachings to a little extent, and some have questioned whether he contributed much to mathematics and natural philosophy. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Whether or not his disciples believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality is unknown. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom,[4] and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato, and through him, all of Western philosophy.

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1 Biographical sources 2 Life 3 Writings 4 Mathematics o 4.1 Pythagorean theorem o 4.2 Musical theories and investigations o 4.3 Tetractys 5 Religion and science o 5.1 Lore 6 Pythagoreans 7 Influence o 7.1 Influence on Plato o 7.2 Influence on esoteric groups 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources o 10.1 Classical secondary sources o 10.2 Modern secondary sources

11 External links

Biographical sources
Accurate facts about the life of Pythagoras are so few, and most information concerning him is of so late a date, and so untrustworthy, that it is impossible to provide more than a vague outline of his life. The lack of information by contemporary writers, together with the secrecy which surrounded the Pythagorean brotherhood, meant that invention took the place of facts. The stories which were created were eagerly sought by the Neoplatonist writers who provide most of the details about Pythagoras, but who were uncritical concerning anything which related to the gods or which was considered divine.[5] Thus many myths were created such as that Apollo was his father; that Pythagoras gleamed with a supernatural brightness; that he had a golden thigh; that Abaris came flying to him on a golden arrow; that he was seen in different places at one and the same time.[6] With the exception of a few remarks by Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, and Isocrates, we are mainly dependent on Diogenes Lartius, Porphyry, and Iamblichus for the biographical details. Aristotle had written a separate work on the Pythagoreans, which unfortunately has not survived.[7] His disciples Dicaearchus, Aristoxenus, and Heraclides Ponticus had written on the same subject. These writers, late as they are, were among the best sources from whom Porphyry and Iamblichus drew, besides the legendary accounts and their own inventions. Hence historians are often reduced to considering the statements based on their inherent probability, but even then, if all the credible stories concerning Pythagoras were supposed true, his range of activity would be impossibly vast.[8]

Life

Bust of Pythagoras, Vatican

Herodotus, Isocrates, and other early writers all agree that Pythagoras was born on Samos, the Greek island in the eastern Aegean, and we also learn that Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus.[9] His father was a gem-engraver or a merchant. His name led him to be associated with Pythian Apollo; Aristippus explained his name by saying, "He spoke (agor-) the truth no less than did the Pythian (Pyth-)," and Iamblichus tells the story that the Pythia prophesied that his pregnant mother would give birth to a man supremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to humankind.[10] A late source gives his mother's name as Pythais.[11] As to the date of his birth, Aristoxenus stated that Pythagoras left Samos in the reign of Polycrates, at the age of 40, which would give a date of birth around 570 BC.[12] It was natural for the ancient biographers to inquire as to the origins of Pythagoras' remarkable system. In the absence of reliable information, however, a huge range of teachers were assigned to Pythagoras. Some made his training almost entirely Greek, others exclusively Egyptian and Oriental. We find mentioned as his instructors Creophylus,[13] Hermodamas,[14] Bias,[13] Thales,[13] Anaximander,[15] and Pherecydes of Syros.[16] The Egyptians are said to have taught him geometry, the Phoenicians arithmetic, the Chaldeans astronomy, the Magians the principles of religion and practical maxims for the conduct of life.[17] Of the various claims regarding his Greek teachers, Pherecydes is mentioned most often. Diogenes Laertius reported that Pythagoras had undertaken extensive travels, and had visited not only Egypt, but Arabia, Phoenicia, Judaea, Babylon, and even India, for the purpose of collecting all available knowledge, and especially to learn information concerning the secret or mystic cults of the gods.[18] Plutarch asserted in his book On Isis and Osiris that during his visit to Egypt, Pythagoras received instruction from the Egyptian priest Oenuphis of Heliopolis.[19] Other ancient writers asserted his visit to Egypt.[20] Enough of Egypt was known to attract the curiosity of an inquiring Greek, and contact between Samos and other parts of Greece with Egypt is mentioned.[21] It is not easy to say how much Pythagoras learned from the Egyptian priests, or indeed, whether he learned anything at all from them. There was nothing in the symbolism which the Pythagoreans adopted which showed the distinct traces of Egypt. The secret religious rites of the Pythagoreans exhibited nothing but what might have been adopted in the spirit of Greek religion, by those who knew nothing of Egyptian mysteries. The philosophy and the institutions of Pythagoras might easily have been developed by a Greek mind exposed to the ordinary influences of the age. Even the ancient authorities note the similarities between the religious and ascetic peculiarities of Pythagoras with the Orphic or Cretan mysteries,[22] or the Delphic oracle.[23] There is little direct evidence as to the kind and amount of knowledge which Pythagoras acquired, or as to his definite philosophical views. Everything of the kind mentioned by Plato and Aristotle is attributed not to Pythagoras, but to the Pythagoreans. Heraclitus stated that he was a man of extensive learning;[24] and Xenophanes claimed that he believed in the transmigration of souls.[25] Xenophanes mentions the story of his interceding on behalf of a dog that was being beaten, professing to recognise in its cries the voice of a departed friend. Pythagoras is supposed to have claimed that he had been Euphorbus, the son of Panthus, in the Trojan war, as well as various other characters, a tradesman, a courtesan, etc.[26]

Many mathematical and scientific discoveries were attributed to Pythagoras, including his famous theorem,[27] as well as discoveries in the field of music,[28] astronomy,[29] and medicine.[30] But it was the religious element which made the profoundest impression upon his contemporaries. Thus the people of Croton were supposed to have identified him with the Hyperborean Apollo,[31] and he was said to have practised divination and prophecy.[32] In the visits to various places in Greece Delos, Sparta, Phlius, Crete, etc. which are ascribed to him, he usually appears either in his religious or priestly guise, or else as a lawgiver.[33]

Croton on the southern coast of Italy, to which Pythagoras ventured after feeling overburdened in Samos. After his travels, Pythagoras moved (around 530 BC) to Croton, in Italy (Magna Graecia). Possibly the tyranny of Polycrates in Samos made it difficult for him to achieve his schemes there. His later admirers claimed that Pythagoras was so overburdened with public duties in Samos, because of the high estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens, that he moved to Croton.[34] On his arrival in Croton, he quickly attained extensive influence, and many people began to follow him. Later biographers tell fantastical stories of the effects of his eloquent speech in leading the people of Croton to abandon their luxurious and corrupt way of life and devote themselves to the purer system which he came to introduce.[35] His followers established a select brotherhood or club for the purpose of pursuing the religious and ascetic practices developed by their master. The accounts agree that what was done and taught among the members was kept a profound secret. The esoteric teachings may have concerned the secret religious doctrines and usages, which were undoubtedly prominent in the Pythagorean system, and may have been connected with the worship of Apollo.[36] Temperance of all kinds seems to have been strictly urged. There is disagreement among the biographers as to whether Pythagoras forbade all animal food,[37] or only certain types.[38] The club was in practice at once "a philosophical school, a religious brotherhood, and a political association."[39]

Pythagoras, depicted on a 3rd-century coin Such an aristocratic and exclusive club could easily have made many people in Croton jealous and hostile, and this seems to have led to its destruction. The circumstances, however, are uncertain. Conflict seems to have broken out between the towns of Sybaris and Croton. The forces of Croton were headed by the Pythagorean Milo, and it is likely that the members of the brotherhood took a prominent part. After the decisive victory by Croton, a proposal for establishing a more democratic constitution, was unsuccessfully resisted by the Pythagoreans. Their enemies, headed by Cylon and Ninon, the former of whom is said to have been irritated by his exclusion from the brotherhood, roused the populace against them. An attack was made upon them while assembled either in the house of Milo, or in some other meeting-place. The building was set on fire, and many of the assembled members perished; only the younger and more active escaping.[40] Similar commotions ensued in the other cities of Magna Graecia in which Pythagorean clubs had been formed. As an active and organised brotherhood the Pythagorean order was everywhere suppressed, and did not again revive. Still the Pythagoreans continued to exist as a sect, the members of which kept up among themselves their religious observances and scientific pursuits, while individuals, as in the case of Archytas, acquired now and then great political influence. Concerning the fate of Pythagoras himself, the accounts varied. Some say that he perished in the temple with his disciples,[41] others that he fled first to Tarentum, and that, being driven from there, he escaped to Metapontum, and there starved himself to death.[42] His tomb was shown at Metapontum in the time of Cicero.[43] According to some accounts Pythagoras married Theano, a lady of Croton. Their children are variously stated to have included a son, Telauges, and three daughters, Damo, Arignote, and Myia.

Writings
No texts by Pythagoras are known to have survived, although forgeries under his name a few of which remain extant did circulate in antiquity. Critical ancient sources like Aristotle and Aristoxenus cast doubt on these writings. Ancient Pythagoreans usually quoted their master's

doctrines with the phrase autos ephe ("he himself said") emphasizing the essentially oral nature of his teaching.

Mathematics

The Pythagorean theorem: The sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse (c). The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things. Aristotle, Metaphysics 15 , cc. 350 BC

Pythagorean theorem

A visual proof of the Pythagorean theorem Since the fourth century AD, Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem, a theorem in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle the area of the square on the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other two sidesthat is, a2 + b2 = c2.

While the theorem that now bears his name was known and previously utilized by the Babylonians and Indians, he, or his students, are often said to have constructed the first proof. It must, however, be stressed that the way in which the Babylonians handled Pythagorean numbers implies that they knew that the principle was generally applicable, and knew some kind of proof, which has not yet been found in the (still largely unpublished) cuneiform sources.[44] Because of the secretive nature of his school and the custom of its students to attribute everything to their teacher, there is no evidence that Pythagoras himself worked on or proved this theorem. For that matter, there is no evidence that he worked on any mathematical or meta-mathematical problems. Some attribute it as a carefully constructed myth by followers of Plato over two centuries after the death of Pythagoras, mainly to bolster the case for Platonic meta-physics, which resonate well with the ideas they attributed to Pythagoras. This attribution has stuck down the centuries up to modern times.[45] The earliest known mention of Pythagoras's name in connection with the theorem occurred five centuries after his death, in the writings of Cicero and Plutarch.

Musical theories and investigations

Medieval woodcut showing Pythagoras with bells and other instruments in Pythagorean tuning See also: Pythagorean tuning and Pythagorean hammers According to legend, the way Pythagoras discovered that musical notes could be translated into mathematical equations was when one day he passed blacksmiths at work, and thought that the sounds emanating from their anvils being hit were beautiful and harmonious and decided that whatever scientific law caused this to happen must be mathematical and could be applied to music. He went to the blacksmiths to learn how this had happened by looking at their tools, he discovered that it was because the hammers were "simple ratios of each other, one was half the size of the first, another was 2/3 the size, and so on."

This legend has since proven to be false by virtue of the fact that these ratios are only relevant to string length (such as the string of a monochord), and not to hammer weight.[46][47] However, it may be that Pythagoras was indeed responsible for discovering these properties of string length. Pythagoreans elaborated on a theory of numbers, the exact meaning of which is still debated among scholars. Another belief attributed to Pythagoras was that of the "harmony of the spheres". Thus the planets and stars moved according to mathematical equations, which corresponded to musical notes and thus produced a symphony.[48]

Tetractys
Pythagoras was also credited with devising the tetractys, the triangular figure of four rows, which add up to the perfect number, ten. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the worship of the Pythagoreans, who would swear oaths by it: And the inventions were so admirable, and so divinised by those who understood them, that the members used them as forms of oath: "By him who handed to our generation the tetractys, source of the roots of ever-flowing nature." Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth., 29

Religion and science

Pythagoras religious and scientific views were, in his opinion, inseparably interconnected. Religiously, Pythagoras was a believer of metempsychosis. He believed in transmigration, or the reincarnation of the soul again and again into the bodies of humans, animals, or vegetables until it became immortal. His ideas of reincarnation were influenced by ancient Greek religion. Heraclides Ponticus reports the story that Pythagoras claimed that he had lived four lives that he could remember in detail,[49] and, according to Xenophanes, Pythagoras heard the cry of his dead friend in the bark of a dog.[50]

Lore
Pythagoras became the subject of elaborate legends surrounding his historic persona. Aristotle described Pythagoras as a wonder-worker and somewhat of a supernatural figure, attributing to him such aspects as a golden thigh, which was a sign of divinity. According to Muslim tradition, Pythagoras was said to have been initiated by Hermes (Egyptian Thoth).[51] According to Aristotle and others' accounts, some ancients believed that he had the ability to travel through space and time, and to communicate with animals and plants.[52] An extract from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable's entry entitled "Golden Thigh": Pythagoras is said to have had a golden thigh, which he showed to Abaris, the Hyperborean priest, and exhibited in the Olympic games.[53] Another legend describes his writing on the moon:

Pythagoras asserted he could write on the moon. His plan of operation was to write on a looking-glass in blood, and place it opposite the moon, when the inscription would appear photographed or reflected on the moon's disc.[54]

Pythagoreans
See also: Pythagoreanism

Pythagoras, the man in the center with the book, teaching music, in The School of Athens by Raphael Both Plato and Isocrates affirm that, above all else, Pythagoras was famous for leaving behind him a way of life.[55] Both Iamblichus and Porphyry give detailed accounts of the organisation of the school, although the primary interest of both writers is not historical accuracy, but rather to present Pythagoras as a divine figure, sent by the gods to benefit humankind.[56] Pythagoras set up an organization which was in some ways a school, in some ways a brotherhood (and here it should be noted that sources indicate that as well as men there were many women among the adherents of Pythagoras),[57] and in some ways a monastery. It was based upon the religious teachings of Pythagoras and was very secretive. The adherents were bound by a vow to Pythagoras and each other, for the purpose of pursuing the religious and ascetic observances, and of studying his religious and philosophical theories. The claim that they put all their property into a common stock is perhaps only a later inference from certain Pythagorean maxims and practices.[58] As to the internal arrangements of the sect, we are informed that what was done and taught among the members was kept a profound secret towards all. Porphyry stated that this silence was "of no ordinary kind." Candidates had to pass through a period of probation, in which their powers of maintaining silence (echemythia) were especially tested, as well as their general temper, disposition, and mental capacity.[59] There were also gradations among the members themselves. It was an old Pythagorean maxim, that every thing was not to be told to every body.[60] Thus the Pythagoreans were divided into an inner circle called the mathematikoi

("learners") and an outer circle called the akousmatikoi ("listeners").[61] Iamblichus describes them in terms of esoterikoi and exoterikoi (or alternatively Pythagoreioi and Pythagoristai),[62] according to the degree of intimacy which they enjoyed with Pythagoras. Porphyry wrote "the mathematikoi learned the more detailed and exactly elaborated version of this knowledge, the akousmatikoi (were) those who had heard only the summary headings of his (Pythagoras's) writings, without the more exact exposition." There were ascetic practices (many of which had, perhaps, a symbolic meaning) in the way of life of the sect.[63] Some represent Pythagoras as forbidding all animal food. This may have been due to the doctrine of metempsychosis.[64] Other authorities contradict the statement. According to Aristoxenus,[65] he allowed the use of all kinds of animal food except the flesh of oxen used for ploughing, and rams.[66] There is a similar discrepancy as to the prohibition of fish and beans.[67] But temperance of all kinds seems to have been urged. It is also stated that they had common meals, resembling the Spartan system, at which they met in companies of ten.[68] Considerable importance seems to have been attached to music and gymnastics in the daily exercises of the disciples. Their whole discipline is represented as encouraging a lofty serenity and self-possession, of which, there were various anecdotes in antiquity.[69] Iamblichus (apparently on the authority of Aristoxenus)[70] gives a long description of the daily routine of the members, which suggests many similarities with Sparta. The members of the sect showed a devoted attachment to each other, to the exclusion of those who did not belong to their ranks.[71] There were even stories of secret symbols, by which members of the sect could recognise each other, even if they had never met before.[72]

Influence
Influence on Plato

Pythagoras, depicted as a medieval scholar in the Nuremberg Chronicle Pythagoras, or in a broader sense, the Pythagoreans, allegedly exercised an important influence on the work of Plato. According to R. M. Hare, this influence consists of three points: (1) The platonic Republic might be related to the idea of "a tightly organized community of like-minded

thinkers", like the one established by Pythagoras in Croton. (2) There is evidence that Plato possibly took from Pythagoras the idea that mathematics and, generally speaking, abstract thinking is a secure basis for philosophical thinking as well as "for substantial theses in science and morals". (3) Plato and Pythagoras shared a "mystical approach to the soul and its place in the material world". It is probable that both were influenced by Orphism.[73] Aristotle claimed that the philosophy of Plato closely followed the teachings of the Pythagoreans,[74] and Cicero repeats this claim: Platonem ferunt didicisse Pythagorea omnia ("They say Plato learned all things Pythagorean").[75] Bertrand Russell, in his A History of Western Philosophy, contended that the influence of Pythagoras on Plato and others was so great that he should be considered the most influential of all Western philosophers.

Influence on esoteric groups

Pythagoras started a secret society called the Pythagorean brotherhood devoted to the study of mathematics. This had a great effect on future esoteric traditions, such as Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, both of which were occult groups dedicated to the study of mathematics and both of which claimed to have evolved out of the Pythagorean brotherhood.[citation needed] The mystical and occult qualities of Pythagorean mathematics are discussed in a chapter of Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages entitled "Pythagorean Mathematics". Pythagorean theory was tremendously influential on later numerology, which was extremely popular throughout the Middle East in the ancient world. The 8th-century Muslim alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan grounded his work in an elaborate numerology greatly influenced by Pythagorean theory.[citation needed] Today, Pythagoras is revered as a prophet by the Ahl al-Tawhid or Druze faith along with his fellow Greek, Plato.

See also
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Apollonius of Tyana Harmony of the spheres Lute of Pythagoras Neopythagoreanism Pythagoreanism Pythagorean comma

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Pythagorean cup Pythagorean theorem Pythagoras tree Sacred geometry The golden verses of Pythagoras

References
1. ^ "The dates of his life cannot be fixed exactly, but assuming the approximate correctness of the statement of Aristoxenus (ap. Porph. V.P. 9) that he left Samos to escape the tyranny of Polycrates at the age of forty, we may put his birth round about 570 BC, or a few years earlier. The length of his life was variously estimated in antiquity, but it is agreed that he lived to a fairly ripe old age, and most probably he died at about seventy-five or eighty." William Keith Chambers Guthrie, (1978), A history of Greek

philosophy, Volume 1: The earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans, page 173. Cambridge University Press 2. ^ Mary Ellen Waithe, Ancient women philosophers, 600 B.C.500 A.D., p. 11 3. ^ Malone, John C. (30 June 2009). Psychology: Pythagoras to present. MIT Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780262012966. Retrieved 25 October 2010. 4. ^ Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, 5.3.89 = Heraclides Ponticus fr. 88 Wehrli, Diogenes Lartius 1.12, 8.8, Iamblichus VP 58. Burkert attempted to discredit this ancient tradition, but it has been defended by C.J. De Vogel, Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism (1966), pp. 97102, and C. Riedweg, Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching, And Influence (2005), p. 92. 5. ^ Iamblichus, Adhort. ad Philos. p. 324, ed. Kiessling. 6. ^ Comp. Herodian, iv. 94, etc. 7. ^ He alludes to it himself, Met. i. 5. p. 986. 12, ed. Bekker. 8. ^ This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870). 9. ^ Herodotus, iv. 95, Isocrates, Busiris, 289; Later writers called him a Tyrrhenian or Phliasian, and gave Marmacus, or Demaratus, as the name of his father, Diogenes Lartius, viii. 1; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 1, 2; Justin, xx. 4; Pausanias, ii. 13. 10. ^ Riedweg, Christoph (2005). Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching and Influence. Cornell University. pp. 56, 59, 73. 11. ^ Apollonius of Tyana ap. Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 2 12. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 9 13. ^ a b c Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 9 14. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 2, Diogenes Lartius, viii. 2 15. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 9; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 2 16. ^ Aristoxenus and others in Diogenes Lartius, i. 118, 119; Cicero, de Div. i. 49 17. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 6 18. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 2; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 11, 12; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 14, etc. 19. ^ Plutarch, On Isis And Osiris, ch. 10. 20. ^ Antiphon. ap. Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 7; Isocrates, Busiris, 289; Cicero, de Finibus, v. 27; Strabo, xiv. 21. ^ Herodotus, ii. 134, 135, iii. 39. 22. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 25; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 17; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 3 23. ^ Ariston. ap. Diogenes Lartius, viii. 8, 21; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 41 24. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 6, ix. 1, comp. Herodotus, i. 29, ii. 49, iv. 95 25. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 36, comp. Aristotle, de Anima, i. 3; Herodotus, ii. 123. 26. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 26; Pausanias, ii. 17; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 5; Horace, Od. i. 28,1. 10 27. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 12 ; Plutarch, Non posse suav. vivi sec. Ep. p. 1094 28. ^ Porphyry, in Ptol. Harm. p. 213; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 12 29. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 14 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. ii. 8 30. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 12, 14, 32 31. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 20; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 31, 140; Aelian, Varia Historia, ii. 26; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 36. 32. ^ Cicero, de Divin. i. 3, 46; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 29.

33. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 25; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 17; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 3, 13; Cicero, Tusc. Qu. v. 3 34. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 28; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 9 35. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 18; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 37, etc. 36. ^ Aelian, Varia Historia, ii. 26; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 13; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 8, 91, 141 37. ^ as Empedocles did afterwards, Aristotle, Rhet. i. 14. 2; Sextus Empiricus, ix. 127. This was also one of the Orphic precepts, Aristoph. Ran. 1032 38. ^ Aristo ap. Diogenes Lartius, viii. 20; comp. Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 7; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 85, 108 39. ^ Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 148 40. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 255259; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 5457; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 39; comp. Plutarch, de Gen. Socr. p. 583 41. ^ Arnob. adv. Gentes, i. p. 23 42. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 39, 40; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 56; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 249; Plutarch, de Stoic. Rep. 37 43. ^ Cicero, de Fin. v. 2 44. ^ There are about 100,000 unpublished cuneiform sources in the British Museum alone. Babylonian knowledge of proof of the Pythagorean Theorem is discussed by J. Hyrup, 'The Pythagorean "Rule" and "Theorem" Mirror of the Relation between Babylonian and Greek Mathematics,' in: J. Renger (red.): Babylon. Focus mesopotamischer Geschichte, Wiege frher Gelehrsamkeit, Mythos in der Moderne (1999). 45. ^ From Christoph Riedweg , Pythagoras, His Life, Teaching and Influence, Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005: "Had Pythagoras and his teachings not been since the early Academy overwritten with Platos philosophy, and had this palimpsest not in the course of the Roman Empire achieved unchallenged authority among Platonists, it would be scarcely conceivable that scholars from the Middle Ages and modernity down to the present would have found the Presocratic charismatic from Samos so fascinating. In fact, as a rule it was the image of Pythagoras elaborated by Neopythagoreans and Neoplatonists that determined the idea of what was Pythagorean over the centuries." 46. ^ Weiss, Piero, and Richard Taruskin, eds. Music in the Western World: A History in Documents. 2nd ed. N.p.: Thomson Schirmer, 1984. 3. Print. 47. ^ Christensen, Thomas, ed. The Cambridge history of Western music theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 143. Print. 48. ^ Christoph Riedweg, Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching and Influence, Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005 . 49. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 34 50. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 36 51. ^ See Antoine Faivre, in The Eternal Hermes (1995) 52. ^ Huffman, Carl. Pythagoras (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) 53. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 54. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 55. ^ Plato, Republic, 600a, Isocrates, Busiris, 28 56. ^ John Dillon and Jackson Hershbell, (1991), Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Way of Life, page 14. Scholars Press.; D. J. O'Meara, (1989), Pythagoras Revived. Mathematics and Philosophy in Late Antiquity, pages 3540. Clarendon Press.

57. ^ Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 19 58. ^ comp. Cicero, de Leg. i. 12, de Off. i. 7; Diogenes Lartius, viii. 10 59. ^ Aristonexus ap. Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 94 60. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 15; Aristonexus ap. Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 31 61. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 80, cf. Aulus Gellius, i. 9 62. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 80 63. ^ comp. Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 32; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 96, etc. 64. ^ Plutarch, de Esu Carn. pp. 993, 996, 997 65. ^ Aristoxenus ap. Diogenes Lartius, viii. 20 66. ^ comp. Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 7; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 85, 108 67. ^ Diogenes Lartius, viii. 19, 34; Aulus Gellius, iv. 11; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 34, de Abst. i. 26; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 98 68. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 98; Strabo, vi. 69. ^ Athenaeus, xiv. 623; Aelian, Varia Historia, xiv. 18; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 197 70. ^ Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 96101 71. ^ Aristonexus ap. Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 94, 101, etc., 229, etc.; comp. the story of Damon and Phintias; Porphyry, Vit. Pyth. 60; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 233, etc. 72. ^ Scholion ad Aristophanes, Nub. 611; Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth. 237, 238 73. ^ R.M. Hare, Plato in C.C.W. Taylor, R.M. Hare and Jonathan Barnes, Greek Philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999 (1982), 103189, here 1179. 74. ^ Metaphysics, 1.6.1 (987a) 75. ^ Tusc. Disput. 1.17.39.

Sources

Pythagoras [Samos, 582 - 500 BC] Like Thales, Pythagoras is rather known for mathematics than for philosophy. Anyone who can recall math classes will remember the first lessons of plane geometry that usually start with the Pythagorean theorem about right-angled triangles: a +b =c . In spite of its name, the Pythagorean theorem was not discovered by Pythagoras. The earliest known formulation of the theorem was written down by the Indian mathematician Baudh yana in 800BC. The principle was also known to the earlier Egyptian and the Babylonian master builders. However, Pythagoras may have proved the theorem and popularised it in the Greek world. With it, his name and his philosophy have survived the turbulences of history. His immediate followers were strongly influenced by him, and even until today Pythagoras shines through the mist of ages as one of the brightest figures of early Greek antiquity. The Pythagorean theorem is often cited as the beginning of mathematics in Western culture, and ever since mathematics -the art of demonstrative and deductive reasoning- has had a profound influence on Western philosophy, which can be observed down to Russell and Wittgenstein. Pythagoras influence found an expression in visual art and music as well, particularly in the renaissance and baroque epoch. The far-reaching imprint of his ideas is yet more impressive if we consider that he did not leave any original writings. Instead, all what is known about Pythagoras was handed down by generations of philosophers and historiographers, some of whom, like Heraclitus, opposed his views. In this light it is remarkable that Pythagoras teachings have survived relatively undistorted until the present day. Pythagoras was a native of the island of Samos. During his early life, Samos was governed by the powerful, unscrupulous tyrant Polycrates. Pythagoras did not sympathise with his government and thus emigrated to Croton in Southern Italy. Like the ancient Greek cities in Ionia, Croton was a flourishing commercial city that lived from importing and exporting goods. Obviously it was in Croton where Pythagoras developed most of his important ideas and theories. Pythagoras founded a society of disciples which has been very influential for some time. Men and women in the society were treated equally -an unusual thing at the time- and all property was held in common. Members of the society practised the masters teachings, a religion the tenets of which included the transmigration of souls and the sinfulness of eating beans. Pythagoras followers had to obey strict religious orders where it was forbidden to eat beans, to touch white cocks, or to look into a mirror beside a light. If all of this seems a bit odd, it might lead us to suspect that Pythagoras personality reflects the inseparable blend of genius and madness that we associate with many other great men. It is said that once Pythagoras was walking up a lane in Croton when he came by a dog being ill-treated. Seeing this he raised his voice: Stop, dont hit it! It is a soul of a friend. I knew it when I heard its voice. Spirits, ghosts, souls, and transmigration were obviously things he believed in deeply.

There was an opposition -if not rivalry- in ancient Greece between the gods of the Olympus and the lesser gods of more primitive religions. Pythagoras, like no other, embodied the contradistinctions of the mystical and rational world, which is woven into his personality and philosophy. In his mind, numbers, spirits, souls, gods and the mystic connections between them formed one big picture. The following text tells the legend of his own existences: He was once born as Aethalides and was considered to be the son of Hermes. Hermes invited him to choose whatever he wanted, except immortality; so he asked that, alive and dead, he should remember what happened to him. Thus, in life he remembered everything, and when he died he retained the same memories. [...] He remembered everything - how he first had been Aethalides, then Euphorbus, then Hermotimus, then Pyrrhus, the Delian fisherman. When Pyrrhus died, he became Pythagoras. (Diogenes Laertius, Live of Philosophers, VIII 4-5) Pythagoras believed in metempsychosis and thought that eating meat was an abominable thing, saying that the souls of all animals enter different animals after death. He himself used to say that he remembered being, in Trojan times, Euphorbus, Panthus son who was killed by Menelaus. They say that once when he was staying at Argos he saw a shield from the spoils of Troy nailed up, and burst into tears. When the Argives asked him the reason for his emotion, he said that he himself had borne that shield at Troy when he was Euphorbus. They did not believe him and judged him to be mad, but he said he would provide a true sign that it was indeed the case: on the inside of the shield there had been inscribed in archaic lettering EUPHORBUS. Because of the extraordinary nature of his claim they all urged that the shield be taken down - and it turned out that on the inside the inscription was found. (Diogenes Laertius) After Pythagoras introduced the idea of eternal recurrence into Greek thought, which was apparently motivated by his studies of earlier Egyptian scriptures, the idea soon became popular in Greece. It was Pythagoras ambition to reveal in his philosophy the validity and structure of a higher order, the basis of the divine order, for which souls return in a constant cycle. This is how Pythagoras came to mathematics. It could be said that Pythagoras saw the study of mathematics as a purifier of the soul, just like he considered music as purifying. Pythagoras and his disciples connected music with mathematics and found that intervals between notes can be expressed in numerical terms. They discovered that the length of strings of a musical instrument correspond to these intervals and that they can be expressed in numbers. The ratio of the length of two strings with which two tones of an octave step are produced is 2:1. Music was not the only field that Pythagoras considered worthy of study, in fact he saw numbers in everything. He was convinced that the divine principles of the universe, though imperceptible to the senses, can be expressed in terms of relationships of numbers. He therefore reasoned that the secrets of the cosmos are revealed by pure thought, through deduction and analytic reflection on the perceptible world. This eventually led to the famous saying that all things are numbers. Pythagoras himself spoke of square numbers and cubic numbers, and we still use these terms, but he also spoke of oblong, triangular, and spherical numbers. He associated numbers with form, relating arithmetic to

geometry. His greatest contribution, the proposition about right-angled triangles, sprang from this line of thought:

The Egyptians had known that a triangle whose sides are 3, 4, 5 has a right angle, but apparently the Greeks were the first to observe that 3 +4 =5 , and, acting on this suggestion, to discover a proof of the general proposition. Unfortunately for Pythagoras this theorem led at once to the discovery of incommensurables, which appeared to disprove his whole philosophy. In a right-angled isosceles triangle, the square on the hypotenuse is double of the square on either side. Let us suppose each side is an inch long; then how long is the hypotenuse? Let us suppose its length is m/n inches. Then m /n =2. If m and n have a common factor, divide it out, then either m or n must be odd. Now m =2n , therefore m is even, therefore m is even, therefore n is odd. Suppose m=2p. Then 4p =2n , therefore n =2p and therefore n is even, contra hyp. Therefore no fraction m/n will measure the hypotenuse. The above proof is substantially that in Euclid, Book X. (Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy) This shows how Pythagoras formulation immediately led to a new mathematical problem, namely that of incommensurables. At his time the concept of irrational numbers was not known and it is uncertain how Pythagoras dealt with the problem. We may surmise that he was not too concerned about it. His religion, in absence of theological explanations, had found a way to blend the mystery of the divine with common-sense rational thought. From Pythagoras we observe that an answer to a problem in science may give raise to new questions. For each door we open, we find another closed door behind it. Eventually these doors will be also be opened and reveal answers in a new dimension of thought. A sprawling tree of progressively complex knowledge evolves in such manner. This Hegelian recursion, which is in fact a characteristic of scientific thought, may or may not have been obvious to Pythagoras. In either way he stands at the beginning of it

Pythagoras (c.570c.495 BCE)

The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Pythagoras must have been one of the worlds greatest persons, but he wrote nothing, and it is hard to say how much of the doctrine we know as Pythagorean is due to the founder of the society and how much is later development. It is also hard to say how much of what we are told about the life of Pythagoras is trustworthy; for a mass of legend gathered around his name at an early date. Sometimes he is represented as a man of science, and sometimes as a preacher of mystic doctrines, and we might be tempted to regard one or other of those characters as alone historical. The truth is that there is no need to reject either of the traditional views. The union of mathematical genius and mysticism is common enough. Originally from Samos, Pythagoras founded at Kroton (in southern Italy) a society which was at once a religious community and a scientific school. Such a body was bound to excite jealousy and mistrust, and we hear of many struggles. Pythagoras himself had to flee from Kroton to Metapontion, where he died. It is stated that he was a disciple of Anaximander, his astronomy was the natural development of Anaximanders. Also, the way in which the Pythagorean geometry developed also bears witness to its descent from that of Miletos. The great problem at this date was the duplication of the square, a problem which gave rise to the theorem of the square on the hypotenuse, commonly known still as the Pythagorean proposition (Euclid, I. 47). If we were right in assuming that Thales worked with the old 3:4:5 triangle, the connection is obvious. Pythagoras argued that there are three kinds of men, just as there are three classes of strangers who come to the Olympic Games. The lowest consists of those who come to buy and sell, and next above them are those who come to compete. Best of all are those who simply come to look on. Men may be classified accordingly as lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain. That seems to imply the doctrine of the tripartite soul, which is also attributed to the early Pythagoreans on good authority, though it is common now to ascribe it to Plato. There are,

however, clear references to it before his time, and it agrees much better with the general outlook of the Pythagoreans. The comparison of human life to a gathering like the Games was often repeated in later days. Pythagoras also taught the doctrine of Rebirth or transmigration, which we may have learned from the contemporary Orphics. Xenophanes made fun of him for pretending to recognize the voice of a departed friend in the howls of a beaten dog. Empedocles seems to be referring to him when he speaks of a man who could remember what happened ten or twenty generations before. It was on this that the doctrine of Recollection, which plays so great a part in Plato, was based. The things we perceive with the senses, Plato argues, remind us of things we knew when the soul was out of the body and could perceive reality directly. There is more difficulty about the cosmology of Pythagoras. Hardly any school ever professed such reverence for its founders authority as the Pythagoreans. The Master said so was their watchword. On the other hand, few schools have shown so much capacity for progress and for adapting themselves to new conditions. Pythagoras started from the cosmical system of Anaximenes. Aristotle tells us that the Pythagoreans represented the world as inhaling air form the boundless mass outside it, and this air is identified with the unlimited. When, however, we come to the process by which things are developed out of the unlimited, we observe a great change. We hear nothing more of separating out or even of rarefaction and condensation. Instead of that we have the theory that what gives form to the Unlimited is the Limit. That is the great contribution of Pythagoras to philosophy, and we must try to understand it. Now the function of the Limit is usually illustrated from the arts of music and medicine, and we have seen how important these two arts were for Pythagoreans, so it is natural to infer that the key to its meaning is to be found in them. It may be taken as certain that Pythagoras himself discovered the numerical ratios which determine the concordant intervals of the musical scale. Similar to musical intervals, in medicine there are opposites, such as the hot and the cold, the wet and the dry, and it is the business of the physician to produce a proper blend of these in the human body. In a well-known passage of Platos Phaedo (86 b) we are told by Simmias that the Pythagoreans held the body to be strung like an instrument to a certain pitch, hot and cold, wet and dry taking the place of high and low in music. Musical tuning and health are alike means arising from the application of Limit to the Unlimited. It was natural for Pythagoras to look for something of the same kind in the world at large. Briefly stated, the doctrine of Pythagoras was that all things are numbers. In certain fundamental cases, the early Pythagoreans represented numbers and explained their properties by means of dots arranged in certain figures or patterns.

Pythagoras lived in the 500s BC, and was one of the first Greek mathematical thinkers. He spent most of his life in the Greek colonies in Sicily and southern Italy. He had a group of followers (like the later disciples of Jesus) who followed him around and taught other people what he had

taught them. The Pythagoreans were known for their pure lives (they didn't eat beans, for example, because they thought beans were not pure enough). They wore their hair long, and wore only simple clothing, and went barefoot. Both men and women were Pythagoreans. Pythagoreans were interested in philosophy, but especially in music and mathematics, two ways of making order out of chaos. Music is noise that makes sense, and mathematics is rules for how the world works. Pythagoras himself is best known for proving that the Pythagorean Theorem was true. The Sumerians, two thousand years earlier, already knew that it was generally true, and they used it in their measurements, but Pythagoras is said to have proved that it would always be true. We don't really know whether it was Pythagoras that proved it, because there's no evidence for it until the time of Euclid, but that's the tradition. Some people think that the proof must have been written around the time of Euclid, instead. Here is the proof:

The Pythagorean Theorem says that in a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two rightangle sides will always be the same as the square of the hypotenuse (the long side). A2 + B2 = C2. Try it yourself: if Side A is 4 inches long, and Side B is 3 inches long, then 4x4=16, and 3x3=9, and 9+16=25, and so Side C will be 5 inches long. Try it with other size triangles and see if this is still true (you can use a calculator, or your computer, to figure out the square roots). But how can you know that this is always true, every single time, no matter what size the triangle is? Take a straight line and divide it into two pieces, and call one piece a and the other piece b, like this:

Now make a square with this line on each side, like this:

and draw in the lines where A meets B on each side to make four smaller shapes. So now you have one square with area AxA (the big yellow one) and one square with area BxB (the little green one) and two rectangles with area AxB (the light blue ones). So the area of the whole square is (A+B) x (A+B) or the area is (AxA) + 2(AxB) + (BxB). Or you might say that (A+B)2 = A2 + 2AB + B2

Now draw diagonal lines across the blue rectangles, making four smaller blue triangles. Call those lines C. Do you see that you have made four blue right triangles, whose sides are A, B, and C? Now imagine that you take these triangles and rearrange them (or if you print it out you can cut them up with scissors and really rearrange them) around the edges of the square like this: The little triangles take up part of the square. The area of all four triangles together is the same as the two blue rectangles you made them from, so that is 2AB.

The area of the pink square in the middle is CxC or C2. And the area of the whole big square is, as we have already seen, A2 + 2AB + B2 So A2 + 2AB + B2 = 2AB + C2 We can subtract 2AB from both sides, so that gives (ta da!) A2 + B2 = C2 Here's an animated short video showing another way to prove the Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagoras
Pythagoras is regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians that the world has seen till date. He is also credited with being a great mystic and scientist. He founded the religious movement called Pythagoreanism and also gave the world Pythagorean Theorem, which is used in mathematics till date. Pythagoras made significant contributions to philosophy and religious teaching, though all of them were based on his love for mathematics. He was the first man to call himself a philosopher or a lover of wisdom and is famous throughout the world as the "Father of Numbers". Childhood & Early Life Pythagoras was born in the island of Samos, in ancient Greece. There are no authentic records related to the life of the great scholar, so the exact dates and other issues cannot be determined with certainty. But, it is believed that it was around 570 BC that he was born. His first teacher was Pherecydes, and Pythagoras stayed in touch with him until the latter's death. When Pythagoras was about 18 years old, he went to the island of Lesbos. There, he worked and learned from Anaximander, an astronomer and philosopher, and Thales of Miletus, a very wise philosopher and mathematician. Father Of Numbers

Pythagoras was known as "The Father of numbers". He made significant contributions to philosophy and religious teaching, in the late 6th century BC. He even believed that everything was related to mathematics, and could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. Pythagoras also went to Sidon, where he was initiated into the Mysteries of Tyre and Byblos. Then, he proceeded to Egypt. There, he put himself under the instruction of the teachers of Thales. He spent the next twenty-two years perfecting mathematics, astronomy and music, and was finally initiated into the Egyptian Mysteries. The Indian Sojourn When Cambyses invaded Egypt, he made Pythagoras his prisoner and sent him to Babylon. Pythagoras utilized the next twelve years in studying with the Magi and was initiated into the Chaldean Mysteries. Leaving Babylon, he made his way through Persia, into India, where he continued his education under the Brachmanes and imbibed the wisdom of the East at its original source. Although Pythagoras went to India as a student, he left it as a Teacher. Even to this day, he is known in that country as Yavanacharya, the "Ionian Teacher". From India, he went to Europe, more precisely Crotona. Journey to Europe After he arrived in Crotona, Pythagoras gave a lecture to a group of young men. A few days later Pythagoras was invited to speak before the Senate of Crotona. There, he advised the Senators to build a Temple to the Muses, whose harmony and interdependence were to constantly remind them of the primary virtues necessary for a good government and acquire the philosophical knowledge necessary for good citizenship. Pythagoras was allowed to build an Institute in Croatia, to serve the several purposes of a school of philosophy and moral training, an academy of science, and a small model city. During the first eight years of probation, the students were known as Exoterics. Those who entered the higher sections were known as Esoterics. Pythagorean Theorem The Pythagorean Theorem was known earlier in Mesopotamia, Egypt and India. Whether Pythagoras himself proved this theorem is not known, as it was common in the ancient world to credit a famous teacher with the discoveries of his students. The earliest known mention of Pythagoras's name in connection with the theorem came five centuries after his death, in the writings of Cicero and Plutarch. The date of his death is not recorded in the annals of history.

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS Nature's abacus Babylon and Egypt Pythagoras Euclid and Archimedes Circumference of the earth Algebra

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Nature's abacus Soon after language develops, it is safe to assume that humans begin counting - and that fingers and thumbs provide nature's abacus. The decimal system is no accident. Ten has been the basis of most counting systems in history. When any sort of record is needed, notches in a stick or a stone are the natural solution. In the earliest surviving traces of a counting system, numbers are built up with a repeated sign for each group of 10 followed by another repeated sign for 1. Arithmetic cannot easily develop until an efficient numerical system is in place. This is a late arrival in the story of mathematics, requiring both the concept of place value and the idea of zero. As a result, the early history of mathematics is that of geometry and algebra. At their elementary levels the two are mirror images of each other. A number expressed as two squared can also be described as the area of a square with 2 as the length of each side. Equally 2 cubed is the volume of a cube with 2 as the length of each dimension. Babylon and Egypt: from 1750 BC The first surviving examples of geometrical and algebraic calculations derive from Babylon and Egypt in about 1750 BC.

Of the two Babylon is far more advanced, with quite complex algebraic problems featuring on cuneiform tablets. A typical Babylonian maths question will be expressed in geometrical terms, but the nature of its solution is essentially algebraic (see a Babylonian maths question). Since the numerical system is unwieldy, with a base of 60, calculation depends largely on tables (sums already worked out, with the answer given for future use), and many such tables survive on the tablets. Egyptian mathematics is less sophisticated than that of Babylon; but an entire papyrus on the subject survives. Known as the Rhind papyrus, it was copied from earlier sources by the scribe Ahmes in about 1550 BC. It contains brainteasers such as problem 24: - What is the size of the heap if the heap and one seventh of the heap amount to 19? The papyrus does introduce one essential element of algebra, in the use of a standard algebraic symbol - in this case h or aha, meaning 'quantity' - for an unknown number. Pythagoras: 6th century BC Ancient mathematics has reached the modern world largely through the work of Greeks in the classical period, building on the Babylonian tradition. A leading figure among the early Greek mathematicians is Pythagoras. In about 529 BC Pythagoras moves from Greece to a Greek colony at Crotona, in the heel of Italy. There he establishes a philosophical sect based on the belief that numbers are the underlying and unchangeable truth of the universe. He and his followers soon make precisely the sort of discoveries to reinforce this numerical faith. The Pythagoreans can show, for example, that musical notes vary in accordance with the length of a vibrating string; whatever length of string a lute player starts with, if it is doubled the note always falls by exactly an octave (still the basis of the scale in music today). The followers of Pythagoras are also able to prove that whatever the shape of a triangle, its three angles always add up to the sum of two right angles (180 degrees). The most famous equation in classical mathematics is known still as the Pythagorean theorem: in any right-angle triangle the square of the longest side (the hypotenuse) is equal to the sum of the squares of the two other sides. It is unlikely that the proof of this goes back to Pythagoras

himself. But the theorem is typical of the achievements of Greek mathematicians, with their primary interest in geometry. This interest reaches its peak in the work compiled by Euclid in about 300 BC. Euclid and Archimedes: 3rd century BC Euclid teaches in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy. No details of his life are known, but his brilliance as a teacher is demonstrated in the Elements, his thirteen books of geometrical theorems. Many of the theorems derive from Euclid's predecessors (in particular Eudoxus), but Euclid presents them with a clarity which ensures the success of his work. It becomes Europe's standard textbook in geometry, retaining that position until the 19th century. Archimedes is a student at Alexandria, possibly within the lifetime of Euclid. He returns to his native Syracuse, in Sicily, where he far exceeds the teacher in the originality of his geometrical researches. The fame of Archimedes in history and legend derives largely from his practical inventions and discoveries, but he himself regards these as trivial compared to his work in pure geometry. He is most proud of his calculations of surface area and of volume in spheres and cylinders. He leaves the wish that his tomb be marked by a device of a sphere within a cylinder. A selection of titles from his surviving treatises suggests well his range of interests: On the Sphere and the Cylinder; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; The Quadrature of the Parabola; or, closer to one of his practical discoveries, On Floating Bodies. The circumference of the earth: calculated c. 220 BC Eratosthenes, the librarian of the museum at Alexandria, has more on his mind than just looking after the scrolls. He is making a map of the stars (he will eventually catalogue nearly 700), and he is busy with his search for prime numbers; he does this by an infinitely laborious process now known as the Sieve of Eratosthenes. But his most significant project is working out the circumference of the earth. Eratosthenes hears that in noon at midsummer the sun

shines straight down a well at Aswan, in the south of Egypt. He finds that on the same day of the year in Alexandria it casts a shadow 7.2 degrees from the vertical. If he can calculate the distance between Aswan and Alexandria, he will know the circumference of the earth (360 degrees instead of 7.2 degrees, or 50 times greater). He discovers that camels take 50 days to make the journey from Aswan, and he measures an average day's walk by this fairly predictable beast of burden. It gives him a figure of about 46,000 km for the circumference of the earth. This is, amazingly, only 15% out (40,000 km is closer to the truth). Algebra: from the 2nd century AD The tradition of Babylonian algebra is revived by the Greeks in Alexandria, where Diophantus writes a treatise called Arithmetica in about AD 200; he uses a special sign for minus, and adopts the letter s for the unknown quantity. Greek algebra in its turn spreads to India, China and Japan. But it achieves its widest influence through the Arabic transmission of Greek culture. In this the most significant event is a book written in Baghdad in about AD 825 by al-Khwarizmi. Its title is Kitab al jabr w'al-muqabala ('Book of Restoration and Reduction'). The success of this work in Europe provides, from part of the title (al jabr), the word 'algebra'. The most important Renaissance work on algebra, written by Girolamo Cardano and published in 1545, expresses in its title the status of the art; it is called Ars Magna, the 'great art' as opposed to the lesser art of arithmetic. But there are still no standard symbols. These emerge during the next century. Both plus (+) and minus (-) derive from abbreviations used in Latin manuscripts. The square root sign is perhaps a version of r for radix ('root' in Latin). The equal sign (=) is attributed to an English author, Robert Record, in a book of 1556. In the 17th century Descartes introduces the use of x, y and z for unknown quantities, and the convention for writing squared and cubed numbers. This History is as yet incomplete. Read more: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa50#ixzz1Qa4qkGTh