Pythagoras
Pythagoras, born around 569 BC is considered to be a pure mathematician for his time. Famous for his work on Pythagoras Theorem, the mathematician not only excelled in Maths but also had very much interest in Philosophy, Astronomy, and music.
- Born around 569 BC.
- Famous for his Pythagoras Theorem
- Interested in Philosophy, Astronomy and music.
- Believed in Metempsychosis where once the living body is dead the soul would enter another body.
- Vegetarian Due to his belief which also explains his faithfulness to his wife.
- Core principles of his religious beliefs stated that everything is related to mathematics and numbers, a principle held by his followers.
- As a young man he lived in Egypt for 20 years, however he was forced to leave during the Persian Invasion.
- He later was sent to Babylon where he learnt more about mathematics. Spending his 10 years held in captivity (in Babylon) with Priests, he also became quite interested in the spiritual realm/ world.
- After being release, Pythagoras went back to his hometown (Samos), to teach his philosophies. People who were open to his beliefs and philosophy, were established as the Pythagorean brotherhood.
- Pythagoras was the leader of the Pythagoreans, they all had such loyalty to him that they gave him full credit with the advancements, for the discovery of;
- The Pythagoras Theorem
- The sum of the angles of a triangle
- Constructing figures of given areas and geometric algebra
- The discovery of irrational numbers
- The five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron, dodecahedron)
- Pythagoras enjoyed music and played Iyre, a harp-like instrument.
- He relates mathematics and music
Reference list:
Math Open Reference 2011, Pythagoras, viewed 9th of October, 2018, <https://www.mathopenref.com/pythagoras.html>
The Famous People n.a., Pythagoras Biography, viewed 9th of October, 2018, <https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/pythagoras-504.php>
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2018, Pythagoras, viewed 9th of October, 2018, <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pythagoras>
