Pythagoras Of Samos Essay, Research Paper

Pythagorean Theorem

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras of Samos is responsible of great advances in the study of astronomy, mathematics and the theory of music. A tyrant ruled Samos at the time and Pythagoras fled to southern Italy at about 532 BC. In Croton, Pythagoras founded a religious school that also specialized in philosophy. Pythagoras’s school made outstanding advances and contributions to the study of mathematics. His school was very private and secretive which made it hard for researchers to distinguish between his work and those of his followers and colleagues

Even though the theorem now known as Pythagoras’s theorem, he was the first to understand and prove it. Pythagoras believed that all relations could be reduced to number relations. He generalized this from observing music, mathematics and astronomy. He first noticed that different harmonies were made from different lengths in the ratio of whole numbers, and that this observation could be extended to different instruments. He further realized that if a string with the same degree of tension was reduced to half, when plucked the pitch of the shorter string was exactly one octave higher than that of the original string.

The most important discovery was found in observing that a square is not a rational multiple of its side and from this fact, the existence of irrational numbers were discovered. Pythagoreans’ belief that whole numbers and their ratios could account for geometric properties and Greek mathematics in general was disturbed by the new findings.

Pythagoras had proven the theorem; now known as his, that Babylonians 1000 years ago knew existed but could never prove themselves. His theorem described that all things consisted of a number, even bodies were consisted of numbers. His theorem also explains that units posses magnitude, he spoke of numbers as if they were the actual matter in which things were composed and he regarded unity and limit or infinity as the substances which form the basic element of everything else. Pythagoras had figured out a great mystery the Babylonians could not figure out 1000 years before, with the help of his passion of mathematics, music and astronomy and the school in which he taught all of these subjects.

In mathematics he found that units possessed magnitude. In astronomy however, he taught that the Earth was a sphere at the center of the universe. He was one of the firsts to realize that Venus was both the evening star and the morning star. He observed that the orbit of the Moon was inclined to the equator of the Earth.

Pythagoras in his wisdom built a school with faithful followers. This institution was the fuel that Pythagoras needed in order to test his theories and finally prove the theorem that everyone before could not understand. Through music, mathematics and astronomy he found that all thing were consisted of numbers and these numbers were the actually matter in which things were composed. He regarded unity and limit as the substances that form the basic elements of everything and through music he found that units posses magnitude. Pythagoras was a brilliant philosopher that helped the world and generations after him understand a theorem that was a mystery until he unlocked it.