Pythagoras of Samos
There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres. �Pythagoras
by: Mrs. Tyrell
Born: About 569 BC
Died: About 475 BC
Biography:
* As a child Pythagoras spent his early years in Samos but travelled widely with his father.
* He was interested in mathematics, philosophy, astronomy and music
* Little is known of Pythagoras's childhood
* He was well educated
* There were 3 philosophers/mathematicians who influenced Pythagoras while he was young:
~ Pherekydes, who many describe as the teacher of Pythagoras.
~ Thales and his pupil Anaximander, both Mathematicians
* He founded a school in Croton, that had many followers. Both men and
women were permitted to become members of the Society
* Pythagorean Theorem was named after him because he was the first to prove it
Mathematical Contributions:
Pythagorean Theorem...he was given credit because he was the 1st to prove it
~ ancient Babylonians actually discovered it!
Other contributions...
* The sum of the angles of a triangles equal two right angles.
* The Pythagorean theorem
* Construction figures of a given area and geometrical algebra.
* The discovery of irrationals
* The five regular solids.
* Pythagoras taught that the earth was a sphere in the center of the universe.
*Many of his contributions are still used in everyday math of today's generation.
Cool/Interesting Facts:
* He started a religious commune with secretive doctrines involving geometric formulations. �
* He believed that eating animal products was cannibalism because
they might contain the trans-migrated souls of human ancestors. ��
* He and his cult also refused to eat beans. ��
* He believed that one's soul was going to be reincarnated. That is
also what the Hindu religion tells as the truth. Pythagoras himself
said that he had once before lived as a warrior in the Trojanwar.
�
* According to Pythagoras, a perfect number was 10.
Works Cited:
http://www.mathopenref.com/pythagoras.html
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Pythagoras.html
http://www.edu.pe.ca/kish/grassroots/math/pythagor.htm