Name: Gonzales, Edjane M.

Course and Section: BSED-MATHEMATICS 1A

Date: September 19, 2023

Pythagoras of Samos
(Father of Numbers)
570 - 495 BCE
Who is He?

Pythagoras is born in 570 BC on Samos island of Aegean sea which is a part of modern Greece.
Pythagoras is born in the family of a gem merchant named Mnesarchus. His father was a rich gem
merchant of Samos island. Pythagoras’s mother’s name was Pythia. As Pythagoras grew up he started to
accompany his father in his business-related travel trips. In this process when he was just 18 he went to
Miletus a great city of ancient Greece. There he met another famous mathematician of Greece Thales. This
meeting inspired him to study science, maths, and astronomy.

Like a good lad, he was helping in his family business until he met Thales of Miletus. After this meeting, he
started learning about science and maths. Pythagoras married Theano of Create and had two sons Telauges
and Arignote and a daughter Myia with her. Around 530 BC he left Samos and settled in croton, a greek city
then now it is in southern Italy. In Croton, he started advising elites of croton and became a renowned person
in that city.

Historians claimed that after meeting Thales of Miletus, he started studying maths and science and went to
Egypt for higher studies. It is said that he studied maths, science, geometry, and astronomy from the ancient
Egyptians.

Pythagoras died in 495 BC when he was 75 years old. But there is a dispute in his death place he either died in
croton or Metapontum.
Contribution in Mathematics
✓ Pythagoras was the first person to find the properties of numbers and personalities of numbers.

• Properties of Numbers

• Triangle numbers

• Square numbers

✓ Pythagoras believed that each number had a unique personality.

• Masculine number - the number 1 and other odd numbers

• Feminine number - the number 2 and other even numbers

Theorems of Pythagoras
• Properties of triangle

In this theorem, he proposed that the sum of all angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. He
also proposed a generalization that states, "the sum of interior angles of a polygon with n sides is equal to (2n-
4) right angles and the sum of its exterior angles is equal to four right angles.”

This also enable to compute the solution of equations like a(a-x)= x² with the help of geometry.

• Pythagorean theorem
 He is mainly credited for the theorem that is named after him, the ‘Pythagoras Theorem’. This theorem
is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that "a
right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of length
of other two sides that contains the right angle". In equation form, it is written as a²+b²=c²

• Numerology
The principle of Pythagoras school was “All is number” or “God is number". They believed that each
number has its meaning and character. They used to worship numbers and very strongly practice numerology.
For example, number 1 was called a generator as it can generate all other numbers, number 2 (dyad)
represents matter, number 3 represents harmony, number 4 signifies four seasons and four elements, number
5 represents marriage because it is the sum of two and three, number 6 represents creation; number 7 was
sacred as it was the number of 7 planets. Odd numbers were considered as female and even numbers as
male.

• Five Regular Solids

Proclus credited Pythagoras with the discovery of five regular solids, i.e., cube, triangle, octahedron,
dodecahedron, icosahedron. Properties of these solids were further elaborated by Plato, hence these are
named after him like Plato’s regular solids. The properties of these solids were extensively discussed in the
books published in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Tetractys
The Tetractys is a triangular structure also known as an equilateral triangle that consists of 10 dots
arranged in four rows. One point in the first row, two points in the second, three points in the third, and four
points in the fourth row. The four rows add up to number 10. Pythagoreans gave a very special place to the
number 10. According to them, 10 is a holy number. Tetractys represents the four classical elements – fire, air,
water, and earth.

• Irrational numbers
Inspired by the inventions of Pythagoras, one of his students named Hippasus discovered a new set of
numbers, i.e., Irrational numbers. One day, Hippasus tried to calculate the value of √2 and found out that it was
impossible to express this number in terms of fractions. So, he proposed a new set of numbers in
mathematics. This discovery shattered the Pythagoreans as it was against their belief that ‘All is number,’ and
every number can be expressed as the ratio of God’s creation. Enraged by Hippasus’ findings, Pythagoreans
sentenced him to death by drowning and threw him into the sea.

• Amicable Numbers
Pythagoreans are credited for the discovery of the first pair of amicable numbers. Amicable numbers
are those pairs of numbers for which the sum of divisors of one number is equal to the other number and vice
versa. For example, (220,284), here, sum of perfect divisors of 220 is
1+2+4+5+10+11+20+22+44+55+110=284 and sum of perfect divisors of 284 is 1+2+4+71+142=220.

• Perfect number
Pythagoreans were the first to identify the perfect numbers. Perfect numbers are those numbers that
are equal to the sum of their proper divisors. For Example, 6, 28, 496, and 8128. It is believed that
Pythagoreans studied the ‘mystical’ properties of these numbers. An actual explanation about perfect numbers
was later given by Euclid.

There are many more significant contributions made by Pythagoras, he worked more on the mystical study of
mathematics rather than its practical application. The Metempsychosis, the Theory of Proportions, the
Pythagorean Theorem, Pythagorean tuning, cosmology , music and lifestyle, and many other mathematical
and scientific discoveries are attributed to Pythagoras. It is said that he was a ‘true’ mathematician and we
owe ‘pure’ mathematics to him.

References:

https://studiousguy.com/pythagoras-contribution-in-
mathematics/#:~:text=Pythagoreans%20were%20the%20first%20to,sum%20of%20their%20proper%20diviso
rs.

(Pythagoras contribution to mathematics)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pythagoras-biography-founding-father-modern-western-culture-jha

(Pythagoras Biography: Founding Father of Modern Western Culture)