Pythagorus
Born between 530-569 B.C. Pythagoras of Samos is described as the first "pure mathematician." Pythagoras' father was Mnesarchus of Tyre and Pythais of Samos. Mnesarchus was a merchant who was granted citizenship after he brought corn to Samos during a famine. The citizenship was an act of gratitude. There are accounts that Pythagoras traveled widely with his father, even back to his father's home, Tyre and Italy. During these travels Pythagoras was educated by Chaldaeans and learned scholars in Syria.
Little is known about Pythagoras' physical attributes because of the large number of fictitious descriptions. The only description that is taken as fact is a birthmark that Pythagoras had on his thigh. Pythagoras had three brothers. I well educated young man Pythagoras played the lyre. This musical education later contributed to Pythagoras doctrines and mathematical studies
Pythagoras had many teachers but one of the most important of those teachers was Pherekydes who is described by many to be "the teacher of Pythagoras." Between the ages of 18 and 20 Pythagoras studied under Anaximander and he contributes that his astronomy was the natural development of Anaximander's.
In about 535 BC Pythagoras traveled to Egypt, a few years before Polycrates took over his home town of Samos. While in Egypt Pythagoras visited many temples and entered into the priesthood at Diopolis. Pythagoras would use the customs that he learned at Diopolis in the founding of his philosophical society. Till the day he died he would practice the secrecy of Egyptian priests and strive for purity.
After Persia invaded Egypt in 525 BC Pythagoras was taken in captivity and brought to Babylonia. In 520, after the death of Cambyses II and Polycrates, Pythagoras returned home to Samos. There is no explanation for the release of Pythagoras from Babylonia or any evidence that the death of Polycrates and his return were connected. Darius of Persia had taken control of Samos at this time.
After founding a school in Samos, Pythagoras left for southern Italy (518 BC). Pythagoras founded a school of religion and philosophy in Croton. Followers known as the mathematiki surrounded Pythagoras. The mathematiki lived at the school, had no possessions and were vegetarians. Pythagoras himself taught the mathematiki. Both women and men were permitted to become members of the Society.. The outer circle of the society was known as the akousmatics, these people lived in there own houses and only came to the Society by day
Mystery cults greatly influenced the development of Pythagoreanism as Pythagoreans adopted many of their traditions, behaviors and beliefs. Pythagoras, the founder of the Pythagoreans, established a school in which he developed and taught these adopted cultural behaviors and beliefs. "The nature of daily living in the school, both its moral and its intellectual disciplines, can perhaps best be understood as an intellectualized development from earlier mystery cults such as the Eleusinian" (Wheelwright 201). The Pythagoreans and the mystery cults were not identical, but they shared many similar beliefs on subjects such as the soul, transmigration and reincarnation, and they practiced many of the traditions of initiation, ritual and secrecy. Pythagoreans combined the mystery cults' views on these subjects with philosophical thought as a foundation to develop their own unique beliefs.
Athenian architecture had an influence on us today as a modern society. The Parthenon’s constructed columns (Doc 6) were a part of Athenian architecture and thus Athenian culture. The column architecture are used in political buildings today such as the Lincoln Memorial so the we have copied the architecture. Mathematics in Athens was being developed by the mathematician Pythagoras. He created a method to solve for the long-diagonal side of a right triangle (hypotenuse), stating that a (one of the right triangle’s legs) squared plus b (one of the right triangle’s legs) squared equals c squared (Doc 9), and we still use this equation in measuring today. Socrates, an Athenian philosopher, said that we must question life, in fact, saying that without questioning life, it was not wrth living (Doc 7) and we think of that philosophy
The great Greek thinker Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. in Stagirus, a city in ancient Macedonia in northern Greece. At the age of eighteen Aristotle went to Athens to begin his studies at Plato's Academy. He stayed and studied at the Academy for nineteen years and in that time became both a teacher and an independent researcher. After Plato's death in 347 B.C. Aristotle spent twelve years traveling and living in various places around the Aegean Sea. It was during this time that Aristotle was asked by Philip of Macedon to be a private tutor to his son, Alexander. Aristotle privately taught Alexander for three years before he returned to Athens after Philip gained control of the Greek capital. During this period back in Athens Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, where he taught for twelve years. In 323 B.C. Alexander the Great died and the Macedonians lost control of Athens. Aristotle was forced to leave and he died one year later in Chalcis, north of Athens, at the age of 62.
Aristarchus lived from about the year 310 B.C. to about 230 B.C. Aristarchus was the first Greek philosopher and mathematician to make sense of the solar system. Others before him thought that the Earth is a sphere and that it moves, but he was the first to understand the heliocentric theory, which states that the sun is in the middle. In 288 or 287 B.C. he followed Theophrastus as the head of the Peripatetic School established by Aristotle.
on in the Greek society, poor and rich students all went to school and all men
Parmenides was a Pre-Socratic philosopher who lived from 515-445 B.C. He was born in Elea (now Velia), a Greek city in southern Italy. His city was at the far end of the known world on the other side of Greece where Heraclitus and the Ionians lived. He escaped his town to study in Athens, the center of the known world. Most likely he was a student of Anaximander and was also influenced greatly by the teachings of Pythagoras. Parmenides joined the religious and philosophical following of Pythagoras in Crotona.
Euclid, who lived from about 330 B.C.E. to 260 B.C.E., is often referred to as the Father of Geometry. Very little is known about his life or exact place of birth, other than the fact that he taught mathematics at the Alexandria library in Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy I. He also wrote many books based on mathematical knowledge, such as Elements, which is regarded as one of the greatest mathematical/geometrical encyclopedias of all time, only being outsold by the Bible.
i. Plato’s Academy was one of the well- known Greek academies that existed sometime around 387 B.C.
The Pythagorean Theorem has been known since the days of the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians. It was also found by Greek mathematician Pythagoras (569-500) BC , the discovery most well known today, and also in a Chinese mathematical dissertation called Zhou Bei Suan Jing (1000 BC) . Another theorem, the Law of Cosines was found in Euclid’s Element predate the word “cosine”, which contains an early geometric theorem equivalent to the law of cosines.
in the spiritual and moral life of the ancient Greeks, where in the same place
Paul Erdös was a Hungarian mathematician. He was introduced to math by his parents who were both math teachers. He was mostly home schooled. He was the reason for the advancements of several major branches of mathematics. The contributions he made to mathematics have served to advance human knowledge. His family comes from Jewish decent but they do not practice the religion. His father was a prisoner of war during the First World War. Lajos learned english from some novels he read during his imprisonment, after he was set free and went back to Hungary he taught Paul how to speak english.
Plato (427-347 BCE) was born into a wealthy and noble family in Athens. He was preparing for a career in politics when the trial and eventual execution of Socrates (399 BCE) changed the course of his life. He abandoned his political career and turned to philosophy. He opened a school on the outskirts of Athens dedicated to the Socratic search for wisdom. Plato's school was known as the Academy.
Euclid of Alexandria was born in about 325 BC. He is the most prominent mathematician of antiquity best known for his dissertation on mathematics. He was able to create “The Elements” which included the composition of many other famous mathematicians together. He began exploring math because he felt that he needed to compile certain things and fix certain postulates and theorems. His book included, many of Eudoxus’ theorems, he perfected many of Theaetetus's theorems also. Much of Euclid’s background is very vague and unknown. It is unreliable to say whether some things about him are true, there are two types of extra information stated that scientists do not know whether they are true or not. The first one is that given by Arabian authors who state that Euclid was the son of Naucrates and that he was born in Tyre. This is believed by historians of mathematics that this is entirely fictitious and was merely invented by the authors. The next type of information is that Euclid was born at Megara. But this is not the same Euclid that authors thought. In fact, there was a Euclid of Megara, who was a philosopher who lived approximately 100 years before Euclid of Alexandria.
384 B.C.E., Aristotle was born in Stagira, Greece. At the age of fourteen, Aristotle went to Athens to study Philosophy with Plato. Although he studied with Plato, he did not always agree with some of his teachings. When Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and traveled to Macedonia. While in Macedonia, Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great. Later on in his life, Aristotle returned to Athens and created a school of him own, Lyceum. When Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C.E., Aristotle fled to Euboea to avoid charges and execution. He died shortly after in 322 B.C.E. (Aristotle Biography, 2015). Aristotle is seen as much more than just a great philosopher of his time. He practiced in ethics, biology, science, and much more (Chaffee, 2013, p. 250).
Zeno of Elea was the next person who attempted to prove irrational numbers by challenging the Pythagorean mathematics as well. He lived from 490BC to 430BC. Zeno had influence from Socrate...