PYTHAGORAS

The Greek philosopher, scientist, and religious teacher Pythagoras developed a school of
thought that accepted the passage of the soul into another body and established many
influential mathematical and philosophical theories.
Pythagoras was an influential philosopher, who is said to be one of the first men to describe
himself as a philosopher – meaning a ‘lover of wisdom’. His life and teachings had a profound
effect on Plato, and through Plato, Pythagoras helped to shape Western philosophy. Pythagoras
is best known today for his contributions to mathematics, in particular, the Pythagorean
theorem relating to right-angled triangles – though it is unlikely he developed this theorem
himself. Biographical sources for the life of Pythagoras are limited and were written many years
after he died. As a result, it can be difficult separating fact from myth.
 Studies of Pythagoras
Pythagoras was born on Samos, a Greek island. He studied from both Greek and
Egyptian teachers. It is said Pythagoras travelled widely seeking all available
knowledge, including perhaps the Chaldaeans and Magi. It is believed that
Pythagoras may have taken initiation in secret religious rites in both Greece and
Egypt. Pythagoras also took an interest in music (he played the lyre), poetry
(especially that of Homer), astronomy, music and geometry.

Pythagoras also spent time in Babylon where he learned from the mathematical
sciences of the Babylonians. Around 530BC, Pythagoras moved to Croton in
Italy, where he became a highly influential figure in society. His Pythagoras
fellowship attracted many followers drawn to the personality and teachings of
Pythagoras. His followers became politically powerful in Croton in southern
Italy, where Pythagoras had established a school for his newly formed sect, or
group of followers. It is probable that the Pythagoreans took positions in the
local government in order to lead men to the pure life that was directed by their
teachings. Eventually, however, a rival group launched an attack on the
Pythagoreans at a gathering of the sect, and the group was almost completely
destroyed. Pythagoras either had been forced to leave Croton or had left
voluntarily shortly before this attack. He died in Metapontum early in the fifth
century B.C.E.

“As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never
know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other.
Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”
― Pythagoras
 Mathematical teachings
The Pythagoreans presented as fact the dualism (that life is controlled by
opposite forces) between Limited and Unlimited.

It was probably Pythagoras who declared that numbers could uncover the
secrets of the universe, limiting and giving shape to matter (anything that takes
up space). His study of musical intervals, leading to the discovery that the chief
intervals can be expressed in numerical ratios (relationships between numbers)
between the first four integers (positive whole numbers), also led to the theory
that the number ten, the sum of the first four integers, embraced the whole
nature of number.
So great was the Pythagoreans' respect for the "Tetractys of the Decad" (the sum
of 1 + 2 + 3 + 4) that they swore their oaths (promises) by it rather than by the
gods, as was normal during his day. Pythagoras may have discovered the
theorem which still bears his name (in right triangles [triangle with one angle
equal to 90 degrees], the square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the
squares on the other sides), although this proposal has been discovered on a
writing stone dating from the time of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (died c.
1750 B.C.E. ). Regardless of their sources, the Pythagoreans did important work
in extending the body of mathematical knowledge.
As a more general outline, the Pythagoreans presented the two contraries
(opposites), Limited and Unlimited, as ultimate principles, or truths. Numerical
oddness and evenness are equated with Limited and Unlimited, as are one and
plurality (many), right and left, male and female, motionlessness and
movement, straight and crooked, light and darkness, and good and bad. It is not
clear whether an ultimate One, or Monad, was presented as the cause of the two
categories
 Religious teachings
Pythagoras and his followers were important for their contributions to both
religion and science. His religious teachings were based on the doctrine
(teaching) of metempsychosis, which teaches that the soul never dies and is
destined to a cycle of rebirths until it is able to free itself from the cycle through
the purity of its life.
Pythagoreanism differed from the other philosophical systems of its time in
being not merely an intellectual search for truth but a whole way of life which
would lead to salvation, or to be delivered from sin. An important part of
Pythagoreanism was the relationship of all life. A universal life spirit was
thought to be present in animal and vegetable life, although there is no evidence
to show that Pythagoras believed that the soul could be born in the form of a
plant. It could be born, however, in the body of an animal, and Pythagoras
claimed to have heard the voice of a dead friend in the howl of a dog being
beaten.

Cosmological views
The Pythagoreans, as a result of their religious beliefs and careful study of
mathematics, developed a cosmology (dealing with the structures of the
universe) which differed in some important respects from the world views at the
time, the most important of which was their view of the Earth as a sphere which
circled the center of the universe. It is not known how much of this theory was
credited to Pythagoras himself.
The mathematical knowledge carried out by Pythagoras and his followers would
have been enough to make him an important figure in the history of Western
thought. However, his religious sect and the self-discipline and dedication
which he taught, embracing as it did a vast number of ancient beliefs, make him
one of the great teachers of religion in the ancient Greek world.
 Pythagorean theorem
Pythagoras's theorem is a statement about the sides of a right triangle. One of the angles of a
right triangle is always equal to 90 degrees. This angle is the right angle. The two sides next to
the right angle are called the legs and the other side is called the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse is
the side opposite to the right angle, and it is always the longest side. The Pythagorean theorem
says that the area of a square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares
on the legs.

This may not make a lot of sense when you first read it. because for me it didn't make any sense
when I read it. I'll try to explain it the best i can, with this photo

If you take each side of the yellow triangle and use it to make a square (see the picture below),
then you get the three squares shown below. The area of each square is length x width. So in this
example the area of each square is a2, b2, and c2.

What the theorem says is that the area of the purple square plus the area of the blue
square will equal the area of the green square. That's the same as saying:
a2 + b2 = c2

i hope i did it well ;)

A person has to walk 100 m to go from position X in the north of east direction to the
position B and then to the west of Y to reach finally at position Z. The position Z is
situated at the north of X and at a distance of 60 m from X. Find the distance between
X and Y.

Solution:

Let XY = x m

Therefore, YZ = (100 – x) m

In ∆ XYZ, ∠Z = 90°

Therefore, by Pythagoras theorem

XY2 = YZ2 + XZ2

⇒ x2 = (100 – x)2 + 602

⇒ x2 = 10000 – 200x + x2 + 3600

⇒ 200x = 10000 + 3600

⇒ 200x = 13600

⇒ x = 13600/200

⇒ x = 68
Therefore, distance between X and Y = 68 meters.