Pythagoras was the first person to really influence the founding of Calculus. He was an Ionian greek philosopher, mathematician, and has been credited as the founder of the movement called Pythagoreanism. Keep in mind he was born in 570 BC and died in 495 BC, so yeah, he’s kind of old. 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 traveled the world, visiting Egypt and Greece, and possibly India, and in 520 BC he returned Samos. Around 530 BC, he moves to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there he established some kind of school or guild. Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religion in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician and scientist and is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which relates the two sides of a triangle to the hypotenuse using the formula a squared plus b squared equals c squared. However, because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than that of other pre-Socratic philosophers, one can give only a tentative account of his teachings, and some have questioned whether he contributed much to mathematics or natural philosophy. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Some accounts mention that the philosophy associated with Pythagoras was related to mathematics and that numbers were
Being one of the greatest philosophers of his time, Pythagoras created a society of skilled mathematicians who worked together to facilitate mathematics, showed how numbers can be independent, and proved the Pythagorean theorem, making him iconic in mathematics today. His discoveries of simple yet essential methods are prevalent today throughout many mathematical fields in which they are treasured.
Pythagoras also contributed to the music world. He expressed the musical harmony in formulas. He created a scale layout with gongs in different sizes and he proved that in the resonance of the gongs he hit, 1 octave interval is equal to 2:1 proportion, the perfect fifth is equal to 3:2 proportion, perfect four is equal to 4:3 proportion and whole notes are equal to 9:8. This, later started to be known as “Pythagorean Tuning.”
Greek mathematical and scientific ideas have also been a large contribution. Euclid, a Greek mathematician, wrote many theorems. His theorems have been very substantial because they are included in today’s mathematical problems. One of his theorems include “If two straight lines cut one another, the vertical, or opposite, angles shall be equal.” This specific theorem is used in proofs and it proves that all vertical angles are equal. Hippocrates was a Greek physician who created the Hippocratic Oath. This oath
Hipparchus was a greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician born 190 B.C. in Nicaea and died in 120 B.C. Rhodes, Rhodes, Greece. Hipparchus is accredited as the inventor of trigonometry because of his discovery of the first table of chords and also because he's the only person with valid data of the discovery and usage of trigonometry. In order to calculate the rising and setting of zodiacal signs, Hipparchus brought to light the division of circles into 360 degrees and the calculation of chords by looking at the triangles (spherical triangles or triangles that made up a circle) differently. Hipparchus experimented putting all triangles to be within a circle and with the three points each touching the
One of Thales’ most renounced findings include his discovery in geometric studies in the area reading the rules of triangles. He came to the conclusion that if the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal, the sum of the angles of a triangle are equivalent to two right angles. With the application of “geometric principles to life situations, Thales was able to calculate the height of a pyramid by measuring its shadow, and the distance of a boat to the shore, by using the concept of similar triangles” (pg. 5, Muehlbauer). Realizations such as these helped shape the beginning for the formation of natural law based on observations of the world through explanation.
The history of calculus falls into several distinct time periods, most notably the ancient, medieval, and modern periods. The ancient period introduced some of the ideas of integral calculus, but does not seem to have developed these ideas in a rigorous or systematic way. Calculating volumes and areas, the basic function of integral calculus, can be traced back to the Egyptian Moscow papyrus (c. 1800 BC), in which an Egyptian successfully calculated the volume of a pyramidal frustum.[1][2] From the school of Greek mathematics, Eudoxus (c. 408−355 BC) used the method of exhaustion, which prefigures the concept of the limit, to calculate areas and volumes while Archimedes (c. 287−212 BC) developed this idea
The Greeks made several inventions, most notably in the subject of math, which are still studied today and taught in school. Mathematician Euclid is often credited as the “Father of Geometry” for all his work and studies in this subject, which are compiled in his books called The Elements. He organized known geometrical statements called theorems and logically proved all of them. He proved the theorem of Pythagoras (another Greek mathematician), which stated that the equation (c2 = a2 + b2) is true for every right triangle.
We use mathematics to our great advantage to explain many things. Although Pythagoras, applied A^2+B^2=C^2, he did not create the substance of the equation, this theorem is timeless, he only brought it to our attention.
Pythagoras was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and the founder of pythagoreanism, he is also often referred to as the first pure mathematician. The Pythagoreans advance the mathematics and showed that is needed in our everyday life. Pythagoras was well educated, and he played the lyre throughout his lifetime, and also knew poetry. He was interested in mathematics, philosophy, astronomy and music, and was actually greatly captivated by Pherecydes (philosophy), Thales (mathematics and astronomy) and Anaximander (philosophy, geometry). Pythagoras stayed in Crotona, a Greek colony in southern Italy, where he found a school where most of his followers lived. He was the master of society and all his followers were known as mathematikoi
It has been said that Eudoxus "set the stage" (Mendell) for Archimedes' research and findings for volume and proportions. Archimedes was born in Syracuse on the island of Sicily, and is known for his mathematics, inventions of war machines, as well as his studies in physics, astronomy, and engineering. He is often regarded as the "father of integral calculus" (Rorres.) One fascinating concept Archimedes studied was mentioned in the virtual lecture: Archimedes explored the concept of calculating the area in a curve by calculating the volume of smaller and smaller triangles. This method is similar to what we are currently using in our modern definite integral
There are many great philosophers in this world. Some of which are extremely well known and almost everyone knows their names like Socrates, Plato Aristotle Locke and so very many more. Pythagoras is a less known philosopher who had a lot of discoveries while leading a life in a secretive manner. He was an enigma and the leader of a religious sect cult who believed the universe to consist solely of whole numbers and their ratios. Pythagoras said "Do not talk a little on many subjects, but much on a few." Has one ever wondered where did he learn his vast knowledge of mathematics and religious aspects leading to the Pythagorean cult, or what was all of his discoveries besides
Throughout Descartes live he contributed many important ideas, including, about algebra, he explained in detail that how algebraic equations can be through shapes. He is widely acclaimed for being the first mathematician who started modern geometry that later developed calculus and analysis. His major contribution is that he created the Cartesian coordinate system. The Cartesian system explained the algebraic equations through geometrical shapes. He “invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z”. It was his work of calculus that was later used by Newton thus evolving a new branch of mathematics. Besides, that, he also invented rule of signs to establish the positive and negative roots of polynomial. He is known
Euclid of Alexandria was born in about 325 BC. He is the most prominent mathematician of antiquity best known for his dissertation on mathematics. He was able to create “The Elements” which included the composition of many other famous mathematicians together. He began exploring math because he felt that he needed to compile certain things and fix certain postulates and theorems. His book included, many of Eudoxus’ theorems, he perfected many of Theaetetus's theorems also. Much of Euclid’s background is very vague and unknown. It is unreliable to say whether some things about him are true, there are two types of extra information stated that scientists do not know
From the period of 1145AD – the late 16th century, many mathematicians developed on algebraic concepts. However, it was not until the 1680’s that the most remarkable discoveries were made using algebra. Sir Isaac Newton was a very famous mathematician, English physicist, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist. During his period of study, he used algebra to describe universal gravitation, develop the laws of motion, found orbits of the planets to be elliptical, discovered that light was made of particles, discovered the rate of cooling objects, and the binomial theorem. His most important works were the development of calculus. However, Newton did not work alone on creating the
Euclid Of Alexandria may be the best-known mathematician of the world, he is best known for his work on mathematics The Elements. The fact that his work has survived so long, 2000 years in fact, is a tribute to his mathematical genius, however very little of him is known. Three theories abound as to the true nature of this historical figure. Not all historians agree that Euclid was in fact a historical figure, some argue that the school in Alexandria took up the name Euclid to publish their works. But the more accepted theories are that Euclid was in fact a real historical figure who may have been the leader of a team of mathematicians.