Essay/Term paper: Pythagoras

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Term Papers

Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a very significant person in the history of the world. He made
many contributions to the fields of math, music, and astronomy. Pythagoras's teachings
and beliefs that were once taught by him in his own school in ancient Greece, are still
taught today.
The thing that Pythagoras is probably the most famous for is the Pythagorean
Theorem. The Pythagorean Theorem is used in the field of mathematics and it states the
following: the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the
squares of the two other sides. This means that if one makes a square (with all sides
equal in length) out of a triangle with a right angle, the areas of the squares made from
the two shorter sides, when added together, equal the area of the square made from the
long side. Another geometrical discovery made by Pythagoras is that the diagonal of a
square is not a rational multiple of its side. The latter discovery proved the existence of
irrational numbers and therefore changed the entire Greek mathematical belief that whole
numbers and their ratios could account for geometrical properties.
Another contribution of Pythagoras and his follower is that of music. Pythagoras
essentially created music in that he discovered the way it works. Pythagoras noticed that
vibrating strings produce harmonious tones when the ratios of the lengths of the strings
are whole numbers. After making this discovery, he found that these same ratios could
be extended further to other instruments.
Pythagoras was one of the first to teach that the Earth was at the center of the
universe. He was also one of the first to teach that the world was round, an idea not to
be proven for almost another one thousand years. Pythagoras also discovered that the
orbit of the moon is inclined to the equator of the Earth. He also was the first person to
make the connection that Venus as the evening star is the same as Venus the morning
star.
So, in conclusion, Pythagoras made many contributions to modern society.
Thus, making him recognizable as a formidable scientist and mathematician even today.
Pythagoras will always be a significant person in history, because of the discoveries
made by him, his students in ancient Greece, and the ever growing amount of people
studying his teachings today and who will continue to learn and follow his lessons until
the end of time.