Mathematics In Ancient Greek Mathematics

From ancient Greek mathematics, came many brilliant scholars such as: Pythagorus, Aristotle, Eudemus, Theophrastus, Archimedes, Aristotle, and Euclid. Of all the civilizations of the ancient world, the most a developed and inovative was that of ancient Greece. The best estimated time of the Greek civilization is dated back to 2800 BC. Around that time, the pyramids were being constructed in Egypt. (Allen) The Greeks built more onto what the Egyptians began building during the time of the pyramids. Many of the Greek mathematic manuscripts were lost over time, but there are many postulates, theories, and systems that still remain today and are used regularly by people all through out the world.

One of the most important mathematical system that came out of the Greek time period was the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagoras was born in approximately 569 BC in Samos Greece. He is said to be the first pure mathematician. It is said that he might have been a student under the philosopher Thales. There are two theories to how he died, one being that he was killed by an angry mob, or the other was that he got burned out of his school and then he went out of his city and starved himself to death. Either way, it is not a happy ending to a brilliant mans life. “Pythagoras believed: All things are numbers. Mathematics is the basis for everything, and geometry is the highest form of mathematical studies. The physical world can understood through mathematics.” (Douglass) One of the most important factors that Pythagoras studied was angels. The Pythagorean theorem, which is, a squared + b squared = c squared, is said to be a milestone in the field of mathematics. It will be used in mathematics forever and it will be known around th...

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...oves and moved around in order to make important calculations. It is the same concept of an abacus, but there is the elimination of the use of string. This makes it a little less portable and easy to maneuver around.

One thing that can be grasped from Greek mathematics is, that there have been several brilliant philosophers and mathematicians that have come out of ancient Greece. So many of the intelligent minds have come from Greek culture and it is interesting to notice how many of them come out of that central location. Even though a lot of the original manuscripts and documents are no longer in existence, the mathematicians of that day, made a large impact on the modern world that we live in today and they will forever be legends in the mathematical and philosophical fields of study. They will never be forgotten in the minds of people around the globe.