Nicholas DiRamio

Nicholas DiRamio

Pythagoras

12/31/16

Block 6

Algebra 2
Nicholas DiRamio

Unfortunately, Pythagoras has no written record of his mathematical discovers. This

allows for discrepancies in whether it was Pythagoras or one of his followers that

discovered anything Pythagoras is credited with.

Pythagoras was born in Samos, Greece. He was born in about 569 BC, and he

died in about 475 BC. Pythagorass father was Mnesarchus and his mother was

Pythais. His wifes name was Theano. They had four children together, Damo, Myia,

Arignote, and Telauges. Most of his childhood was spent in Samos until he began to

travel with his father to trade. He is believed to have visited Tyre to study under scholars

from Syria. He studied under many different teachers. He learned poetry, music, stories

like Homer, and philosophy. When he was 18 Pythagoras met Thales in Miletus and was

introduced to mathematics and astronomy. Evidence from Pythagorass later works

show that he studied under Thales student, Anaximander. Anaximander taught him both

astronomy and geography. Pythagoras studied under the temple priests in Egypt in 535

BC. He remained in Egypt for around ten years and became a priest. Pythagoras was

taken prisoner and moved to Babylon after Egypt was captured by Persia. Cambyses

took Egypt because after Cyrus (a former ruler of Persia) took the middle east Egypt

was the only remaining independent state. He got to know the Persian priests and

began to study mathematics and mathematical science under them. Pythagoras

returned to Somas in 520 BC due to the death of Cambyses II of Persia. Pythagoras

opened a school by the name of the semicircle when he returned home. The city asked

him to join the administration which he refused, and he moved to Croton, Italy. In

Croton, he began to teach more and quickly gained followers. His following developed
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into a religious and philosophical group under Pythagoras. The followers were called

Pythagoreans and consisted of two groups - the learners who lived and worked at the

schools and the listeners who did not. The people who lived at the school adhered to

strict rules that dictated their wardrobe, diet, and what they said. The people living

outside the school could still attend class and not adhere to this strict lifestyle.

Pythagoras is often called the first true mathematician. He contributed much to

mathematics but he is controversial as he left none of his own mathematical writings.

We only have what came from Philolaus or other Pythagorean scholars. Pythagoras

mainly studied mathematics and philosophy. The tetractys was a symbol that the

Pythagoreans worshipped. The tetractys was a triangular number composed of the sum

of one, two, three, and four, adding up to ten. The top layer of the symbol was a single

point for one, the second layer was two points for two, the third layer was three points

for three, and the forth layer was four points for four. Ten was the holiest number to the

Pythagoreans. The intelligence of the Pythagoreans is shown in their choice of Ten as

the holiest number because of the mathematical reasoning used to arrive at that

conclusion. Their reasoning is shown in the tetractys. It proved that 10 was triangular

because 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. Pythagoras largely helped in building the rules of geometry

and discovered a complete mathematical system where numbers were equal to

geometric elements. Integers and ratios assisted in creating this system of rules. His

most well-known accomplishment is the Pythagorean theorem which states that a 2 + b2 =

c2 where a and b are sides of the triangle and c is the hypotenuse. Pythagoras is also

credited with a musical discovery. His musical discovery states that the intervals
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between harmonious musical notes always have whole number ratios. Non-whole

number ratios give dissonant sounds. Pythagoras believed that the entire universe and

everything in it was based around numbers based on his discoveries. It is said that one

of Pythagorass students by the name of Hippassus discovered irrational numbers. He

tried to use the Pythagorean theorem and wound up with c=2. It is said that he made

this discovery on a boat and the people with him were so horrified that they threw him

overboard and he drowned. Euclid is also the potential discoverer of irrational numbers.

He is more plausible as his writings are more advanced and came 300 years later.

Pythagoras wrote a book of his beliefs called The Golden Verses of Pythagoras. It is a

collection of his sayings. This book allowed modern people to see what may have been

taught at his school.

The Pythagoreans had many beliefs. One of these beliefs is that the universe

consisted of earth surrounded by one of the regular solids that is surrounded by a

sphere surrounded by another regular solid. It isnt clear on how long this pattern is

believed to continue. Other planets and stars are attached to said spheres that orbit the

earth. It is also said that as these spheres rotated they created a musical harmony.

According to the Pythagoreans everyone grew accustomed to hearing the noise at birth

so nobody but the Pythagoreans could hear the musical harmony. Pythagoras believed

and taught that the earth was the center of the universe. Many of Pythagorass

mathematical studies are still in use today. His astrological discoveries arent quite as

relevant as they have been disproven. For instance, we now know that the Earth

revolves around the sun due to gravity and not the other way around.
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Pythagorass most relevant contributions to todays society are the Pythagorean

theorem and his contributions to the rules of geometry making it a much more useful

form of mathematics. He did a lot of work with triangles but he also studied other

shapes. One thing he discovered was that the sum of the internal angles in triangle was

equal to 180 degrees or two right angles. The sum of the external angles in a triangle is

360 or four right angles. He also discovered that the interior angles of any polygon add

up to 2n-4 right angles if n is equal to the amount of sides. The sum of the exterior

angles of any polygon will always equal four right angles or 360 degrees.

Pythagoras also believed many things about certain numbers. He gave them

genders, decided if they were beautiful or ugly and give them special meanings. He

decided that one was the number of reason. Two was the number of opinion. Three was

the number of harmony. Four was the number of justice or retribution. Five was the

number for marriage. Six was the number for creation. Seven was a holy and magical

number possessing strength and psychic abilities. Eight was the number of material

matters and practicality. Nine is the number for achievement or completion. Ten was the

tetractys and was a symbol in itself as a triangular number. From numbers one through

nine all the even numbers are female and all the odd numbers are male. The number

eleven is both male and female, it is the number of revelation and spiritual insight.

Number twenty-two is feminine and is important in the kabbalah. Other then the

numbers aforementioned, not much is documented on numerical meanings. Pythagoras

also studied square numbers. These were numbers that when represented with dots

were able to form a perfect square. These numbers start with one and continue
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infinitely. He also worked with triangular numbers. These are numbers that would form a

triangle when represented with dots. These numbers also began with one and

continued infinitely.

Sources:

Pythagoras of Samos. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from http://www-

groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Pythagoras.html

Pythagoras Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from

http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/pythagoras-504.php

Pythagoras - Greek Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics. (n.d.). Retrieved January

04, 2017, from http://www.storyofmathematics.com/greek_pythagoras.html

1. (2014, March 26). Discovery of Irrational Numbers. Retrieved January 04, 2017, from

https://brilliant.org/discussions/thread/discovery-of-irrational-numbers/
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Pythagoras and the 5 Regular Solids. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from

http://www.myastrologybook.com/Pythagoras-five-regular-Platonic-solids.htm

The Secret of Numerology Meanings Made Easy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017,

from http://www.2012-spiritual-growth-prophecies.com/numerology-meanings.html

Pythagoras. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://nrich.maths.org/2721