Pythagoras

Pythagoras was one of many great Greek philosophers and mathematicians. He lived from approximately 582 B.C. until 507 B.C. and during his lifespan founded the social group called the Pythagoreans, created the Pythagorean theorem, and became known as "the father of numbers." Pythagoras and his followers believed that everything in life was related to mathematics and life's patters could be predicted using numbers.

Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos, located just off the coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). When he grew to a young man, he left Samos and traveled to Crotone in Southern Italy to escape the government of Polycrates. He was then advised to travel to Memphis in Egypt to study with priests who were world-renowned for their wisdom. This was where he learned some geometric principles, which led to his discovery of his famous theroem.

Unfortunately, no writings of Pythagoras survived through history, but the Pythagorean theorem is still taught worldwide today. The theorem is: In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (i.e. the two sides other than the hypotenuse). This is expressed by the equation: a²+b²=c². The theorem may have more proofs than any other. A book published in 1940 called The Pythagorean Proposition contains 370 proofs of the Pythagorean theorem, including one done by former President Garfield.

Pythagoras had a notable impact on the writings of Plato and many other ancient philosophers. It has been said that Pythagoras and Plato share a mystical, spiritual approach to life and the soul and its place in the material world. Legend clouds his work so it is hard to know many concrete facts about his life, but he influenced the world as we know it, and neither he nor his teachings will be forgotten for many, many years to come.