Ciara Sundermann

Calculus Final Paper

Pythagorean Theorem
Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher,(4) was born in 569 B.C.(1) to Mnesarchus, his father,
who was a merchant and his mother, Pythais, who was a native to the island.(3) He was born on
an island called Samos, in Greece.(1) Although Pythagoras lived in Samos, he traveled around
with his dad when he was younger.(3) He explored places all over the world; he even visited
Italy.(3) He was very intelligent, even as a child.(3) He played the lyre, read poetry, and could
easily recite Homers works.(3) Pythagoras grew up to be a philosopher and made many
accomplishments in astronomy, math, and music. (3)
As do most people, Pythagoras had a few people in his life that really influenced him.
One of them was his teacher, Pherekyde.(3) Pherekydes was characterized by Aristotle
in Metaphysics, Book XIV, as a theologian who mixed philosophy and myth.(13) Pythagoras
cared for his teacher so much that he returned to see him later in his life.(3) Another great
influence on Pythagoras was Anaximander, who was his teacher as well as a student of
Thales.(11) Anaximander really introduced philosophy into Pythagoras life.(6) Thales also
influenced him greatly and although he was old, that is who really introduced him to the idea of
math.(3) Thales told Pythagoras to go travel Egypt to gain more knowledge about astronomy and
mathematics(11), so in 535 B.C., Pythagoras went to Egypt.(3) He talked to many priests and
visited many temples, trying to get admitted in and eventually, he was allowed at temple
Diospolis and he got into the priesthood after completing all of the tasks to get accepted.(3) The
group was very secret and contained many strange rules that were strictly enforced such as they
had to be vegetarians and were not allowed to even eat beans.(3) In 520 B.C., Pythagoras left to
go back to Samos.(3) When he got there, he went to Crete to study the laws there.(3) When he
returned to Samos, he established a school called the Semicircle.(3) He was prepared to teach
anyone who came there to hear him. The philosopher Anaximander of Miletos did not approve of
Pythagoras's philosophical and mathematical theories and accused him of being a trouble-maker
and infidel. Pythagoras rejected these accusations, but was forced by his enemies to take refuge
in a cave of Month Kerkis, and then he was forced to leave Samos.(12) Later, in 518 B.C., he
went to Italy. It was there that he founded a religious and philosophical school.(3) It was like
Pythagoras was in charge of his own society of followers where the rules were very strict and
strange, such as they could not eat beans, could not have possessions, and had to be
vegetarians.(3) A lot of the rules in the inner circle were based on the rules from the
priesthood.(3) As far as the people in the outer circle, they were allowed to live at home as well
as have possessions.(3) They only came during the day and did not have to be vegetarians.(3) In
513 B.C., Pythagoras went to Delos to take care of Pherekydes his old teacher, who was very
ill.(3) A few months after he arrived, Pherekydes died and Pythagoras returned to Croton, which
is where his school was located.(3) His school was attacked in 508 B.C., and he fled to
Metapontium.(3) To this day, Pythagoras death is unknown as to how and where it happened.(3)
When 500 B.C. came around, the society expanded and in 460 B.C., it was burned.(3) About 50
or 60 Pythagoreans died while the others went elsewhere.(3)
Pythagoras was interested in the principles of mathematics, the concept of number, the
concept of a triangle or other mathematical figure and the abstract idea of a proof.(3) Although
Pythagoras taught his followers, it is unknown as to who proved each individual theory.(1) All of
the work and ideas of Pythagoras brotherhood, which was his school, were kept secret.(1) They
did not just sit and do math problems, like we do in high school, they mainly studied how things
work, such as theorems.(3)
The theory that Pythagoras is most known for is the Pythagorean Theorem.(2) In the 2
nd

millennium B.C., the Babylonians wrote on clay tablets and seemed to understand the
relationship between the sides of a triangle with the hypotenuse, but their approximations were
only accurate to five decimal places.(2) Due to the fact that Pythagoras teachings were not in
writing it is unknown how Pythagoras and his followers proved the theorem however,(2) the
theorem still stands today as

, which means that in a right angled triangle: the

square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. (10) Other
people knew that there were special triangles like the 30-60-90 and the 45-45-90 triangles, but
Pythagoras found out that it works for any right triangle. (5) There theorem later got his name
and Euclid, a Greek Mathematician, wrote the theorem in his book called Elements 200 years
later stating that the Pythagorean Theorem is the basis of trigonometry, geometry and algebra.(5)
I think that the Pythagorean Theorem is very useful in all stages of math. I have used the
Pythagorean Theorem for as long as I can remember in math classes. Even when one of the sides
is unknown, it is cool that the same theorem used when you do know both of the sides can be
used if you only know one side and the hypotenuse. It is a very simple equation and I remember
using it a lot in geometry and even a little in algebra and pre calculus and I really enjoyed it
because it was so simple to remember.
Pythagoras had many achievements, even some outside of mathematics and
philosophy.(3) As far as music, Pythagoras figured out that vibrating strings make tuneful noises
when the ratios of lengths are whole numbers, which corresponded with other instruments as
well.(3) He also studied odd numbers, triangular numbers, perfect numbers, and more.(3)
Pythagoras and his group discovered other things such as the discovery of rational numbers and
how to solve equations like a(a-x)=x^2 by using geometry.(3) Some of his other theories include
that the sum of the angles is equal to two right angles, constructing figures of area, discovery of
irrationals, and the five regular solids. (7) Knowing the sum of the angles helps a lot in
geometry because geometry is the study of shapes and there is a lot to do with the degrees in
each angle and they can help to find out the lengths of the sides. In astronomy, he added to
Anaximanders idea of perfect circular motion.(3) Pythagoras and his followers thought that each
planet was connected to its own sphere.(8) Pythagoras is also credited with recognizing that the
"morning star" and "evening star" are both the planet Venus, which means that he is the one
who found Venus.(8)
Pythagoras had a very adventurous and accomplished life. Not only did he influence us in
the field of philosophy but greatly in mathematics as well.(4) He studied several subjects and
managed to made discoveries in each field.(3) The Pythagorean Theorem is very important in
almost all higher level math classes and is taught at a relatively young age due to its importance
in the subject. He made a huge accomplishment in music by finding out when instruments make
harmonious sounds.(3) In addition to all of these accomplishments, he also discovered a
planet.(8) Many philosophers went beyond barriers and thought outside the box, but Pythagoras
set himself apart. With so many different achievements in a broad range of fields and studies, he
was truly an amazing figure in history.


Bibliography
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2. Smoller, Laura. Did you know? UALR Department of History. May 2001.
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th
, 1999.
http://cass.ucsd.edu/archive/public/tutorial/History.html
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