3. A few facts about Pythagoras:
Born about 569 B.C. on the island of Samos in
Greece
He traveled quite a bit with his father
Was educated by 3 great philosophers
Traveled to Egypt &
was accepted into the priesthood.
There he studied geometry
4. A few little know facts:
Pythagoras was taken prisoner by the King of Persia
and brought to Babylon
He studied arithmetic & music with the Magoi and
the mystical Babylonians
He went back to Greece,
but then left for Italy
It was in Italy that he founded
the Brotherhood of
Pythagoreans
5. What did the Brotherhood of Pythagoreans
accomplish?
They believed that reality is mathematical in nature
They observed strict loyalty and secrecy
They were interested in the abstract proof and many
types of mathematical concepts
Followers discovered that the sum of the angels of a
triangle is equal to 2
right angles or 180 degrees
6. But it’s not all about math….
Pythagoras was a musician as well. He learned the
mathematical ratios of vibrating strings
They taught that the earth was a sphere in the center
of the universe
They taught that the orbit of the moon was inclined
to the equator
7. But did he really invent the Pythagorean
Theorem?
Probably not. The theorem was already known by the
Babylonians 1000 earlier.
The Pythagoreans were perhaps the first to prove it.
Legend has it that when they finally completed the
proof, the
Pythagoreans sacrificed 100 oxen.
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EMAT6680.F99/Challen/pythagorean/lesson1/lesson1
