preview

Pythagoras Is A Bit Of A Mysterious Figure

Decent Essays

Pythagoras of Samos is a bit of a mysterious figure. There are many different accounts of his early and midlife, some of which contradict each other. One thing that is common among all the records is his mathematical achievements. When it comes to math, he played an extremely large part in the development of mathematics.
Pythagoras was born in 570 BC in Samos. Most of the information that can be found today about Pythagoras was written a few centuries after he died in 495 BC. His mother was a native of the island Pythagoras was born on. His father was a merchant from Tyre. During his early childhood Pythagoras stayed in Samos, but as he grew older he would accompany his dad on his trading trips. Due to travelling with his dad he studied …show more content…

Odd numbers were thought of as female and even numbers as male.” Out of all the numbers Pythagoras believed that the number ten was the holiest number. He believed this because it was made up of the first 4 digits, and when arranged in 4 rows of points it made a triangle. Pythagoras also discovered prime numbers and composite numbers. He also did some research relating to perfect numbers (the sum of the divisors is equal to the number). The number 6 is an example of a perfect number. (3+2+1=6) He discovered that 28 was also a perfect number, and his students later found 496 and 8128 to be perfect numbers as well.
Pythagoras’ biggest mathematical work was the Pythagorean Theorem. This theorem had already been discovered by the Babylonians, but Pythagoras was the first to prove that it was correct. This theorem relates to the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the square of a hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other sides. The formula for this is “a^2+b^2=c^2.” In this formula a and b = the two shorter sides of the right triangle. C is equal to the side that is opposite of the right angle, or the hypotenuse. Pythagoras was also responsible for introducing more rigorous

Get Access