Most of us know nothing about Pythagoras beyond a theorem that we were forced to learn at school.

Yet there is far more to the man than that. Pythagoras was one of the greatest scientific minds of the Ancient Greek world. His ideas were an influence upon many of the great minds that came after him, including Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein. In this video, we learn about the man and his ideas.

The Ancient Greeks developed mythology built around gods and goddesses in order to explain the world around them. Everything they didn’t understand was attributed to the actions of a God. In this way their fear of the unknown was allayed. However, a small group of intellectuals wanted better answers than mythology when it came to life’s mysteries. These were the earliest scientists.

In Ancient Greece, only the children of the wealthy received an education. They were taught by tutors, receiving instruction in reading, writing, music, and math. At the age of 18, all young men had to serve in the military. Some of them returned to their education after their compulsory military service. These ones would be instructed in elocution and rhetoric.

Some Greek intellectuals chose to study independently. They contended that the answers to the most puzzling questions in life could be discovered through observation and thought. As a result, they devoted themselves to the study of the natural world, taking meticulous notes about their observations. They looked for patterns and natural rules in order to uncover the laws that governed the natural world. They could then use these rules to make predictions about the future.

Pythagoras was born on the Greek island of Samos around 580 BCE. Samos was well known as a model of advanced architecture as well as being an important center for trade. Merchant ships were frequently coming and going, allowing new ideas and philosophies to flow in and out.

It is believed that Pythagoras’ father was either a merchant or a gem engraver. Whatever his profession, he was wealthy enough that his son was able to avoid early military training and pursue a life of study.

Little is known about Pythagoras’ early life. It is believed that he traveled widely. He almost certainly visited Egypt, which was where many Greek intellectuals studied. It is believed that he also traveled to Persia, Crete, Phoenicia, India, and as far abroad as Ireland. In each place, he sat at the feet of the most learned intellectuals.

Upon his return to Samos, Pythagoras founded a school of philosophy. This was nothing unusual at the time, but his school was different than the others - it was more like a religious monastery. Pythagoras promoted a minimalist lifestyle of self-denial and anti-materialism. The students all lived together, sharing their resources in accordance with Pythagoras’s creed of ‘’all things in common among friends”.

Pythagoras himself lived in a cave and studied in private. Only the most privileged were permitted to enter this inner sanctum and engage in discourse with the great teacher.

The Pythagoreans, as they became known, studied mathematics, athletics, therapeutic dance, and meditation. Pythagoras was a lover of the study of mathematics. He saw number patterns in everything around him and was convinced that numbers were the key to unlocking the world’s hidden secrets. His most famous contribution to mathematics is the formula that bears his name. It is represented by that formula that we all learned in school …

A squared plus B squared equals C squared.

Interestingly, many historians doubt whether Pythagoras actually devised this formula to find the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. They contend that the ancient Indians and Babylonians were using this formula hundreds of years before Pythagoras was born and believe that he was simply the man who brought it to the west.

Pythagoras applied what he learned in mathematics to other areas of life, including music and astronomy. He taught that music could be translated into mathematical equations. On the basis of mathematical calculation, Pythagoras also proposed that the earth was not flat, as commonly believed, but that it was a sphere. He taught, too, that math could predict the movement of the stars, showing that the morning star and the evening star were actually the same stars at different phases of their path through the sky.

Pythagoras made advancements in the understanding of mathematics, geometry, music, and astronomy that influenced the future development of geography, science, and architecture.

Credits:
Illustration - Jonathan Benbow bongwedesign.com
Script - Steve Theunissen
Voice Actor - James Fowler

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