Pythagoras of Samos

Early life and Background:

Pythagoras of Samos, son of Mnesarchus. He was a Mathematician, a Greek Philosopher, and he established the Pythagoreanism (A religious movement). He was born on the Island of Samos in Ancient Greece, and it was believed he was born around 580 BC. In his mid-fifties he opened a school in Samos (his native homeland), however it was closed down soon, due to the lack of students. From there he made his way to Italy in Croton, and once again started teaching at a school, but this time it was a HUGE success! He got up to 600 students, and each of them were very worthy, indeed known as the “600 most worthiest people in the city”. Later the school got Magnificent appearances and reviews. The school mainly focused on Mathematics and Philosophy, other teachings included Music and Astronomy. Pythagoras also taught his young students many good messages, such as to respect your elders. He also told people to be equal to each other, and he taught everyone to stay calm and gentle with each other and their selves. He also taught many more good morals, and this is probably why the “Pythagoreans” were honoured and noticed for their good friendship and teachings to each other and their art. Later Pythagoras was expelled from Croton, and he moved to Tarentum for 16 years, when he had to move again. This time he moved to Metapontus where he lived for a couple more years, before dying. He died around 99 years of age.

Pythagoras’s Contribution to Mathematics:

Some of Pythagoras’s most famous pieces of work included the “Pythagorean Theorem”. Pythagoras discovered and said that “The hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides”. It stated “a^2 + b^2 = c^2”. Pythagoras and his believers believed that everything was numbers and reality was numbers too. Pythagoras was also known for stating

“Everything could be predicted and measured by rhythmic patterns or cycles”. One of the most important discoveries of Pythagoras and his believers (students) was that the diagonal of a square is not a rational multiple of its side. Also he said the square root of 2 is not rational. This discovery created “irrational numbers”. Another thing all Pythagoreans believed was that all number theory problems can be solved using geometry; thus they came to the conclusion of these discoveries. He was also known for devising the “tetractys”, which are the triangular figure of four rows. These add up to the perfect number, 10.

So in conclusion Pythagoras discovered “Pythagorean triples”, “Pythagorean Theorem”, “Irrational numbers”, and “Tetractys”. In general he is best known for his discovery of “Pythagorean Theorem”. Some of these discoveries were made by Pythagoras AND his followers/students; known has Pythagoreans.

By: Musa Awais