Greek mathematician Pythagoras Essay

Custom Student Mr. Teacher ENG 1001-04 22 June 2016

Greek mathematician Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. He was born in Samos, Ionia around 580 b.c. Thales, who was another philosopher was the main teacher of Pythagoras. Pythagoras went to study further in Egypt so Thales couldn’t teach him anymore. In Pythagoras’ teenage years, he began to become known for his philosophic ideas. He also succeeded in math, astronomy, wrestling, and music.

In music, he figured out that when a string is vibrating, the longer or shorter it is makes a difference in the tune of the note.

In astronomy, he taught that the earth was a sphere, and in math he compared the difference between composite and prime numbers, discovered irrational numbers, and proved the Pythagorean Theorem. This stated that when the two shorter sides in a right triangle were squared and then added, it would equal the square of the longest side or hypotenuse. This was known earlier, but he was the first one to really prove it was true.

He soon moved from his home in Italy to a place called Crotona. In Crotona, he found a wife named Theano and founded a school based on philosophy and religion. While in Crotona he discovered many things and even had some followers. Pythagoras’ followers called themselves the Pythagoreans. In order to become a Pythagorean , you had to follow a couple of strict rules. One of the rules was silence. This meant that you could never share any of your own ideas with the others and that you could only listen to your fellow Pythagoreans. Another rule was avoiding the ingestion of meat.

An interesting thing about his school was that if you joined you were automatically a Pythagorean so that meant if you were a student, you’d have to obey the rules also. His followers also believed in reincarnation. Reincarnation- when one dies, their soul is transferred to another human beings body.

Pythagoras died in Metapontum, Lucania in 500 b.c. Historians think that he fled and just barely escaped death when violence broke out in Crotona. When he died, a lot of his ideas were forgotten. We will always miss our dear Pythagorus.

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