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Pythagorus

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Pythagorus
Country of Origin, a brief history Throughout high school and college, many people may remember hearing the mathematic formula a2 + b2 = c2. Little do they know, this mathematical concept was made thousands of years ago and is still highly used in education and many careers all over the world today. This formula was actually originally created by a Greek mathematician named Pythagoras. The time period in which Pythagoras graced his presence on Earth happened so long ago that research on Pythagoras and his mathematical concept were not documented. This is important because many researchers argue if Pythagoras really came up with the Pythagorean Theorem or if it was just a legend or Greek story. After researching this topic, I have found that Pythagoras was more than just a “Greek story”. Pythagoras was born in the Samos Islands of Samos. Samos is a Greek island that is found beside the eastern Aegean Sea and located off Greece near the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, because Pythagoras was born centuries ago, there is not much information on his birthdate, childhood events, and life. Many researchers have come together to form a chronological time line that gives a brief overview of his life; “We do have details of Pythagoras 's life from early biographies which use important original sources yet are written by authors who attribute divine powers to him, and whose aim was to present him as a god-like figure. What we present is an attempt to collect together the most reliable sources to reconstruct an account of Pythagoras 's life. There is fairly good agreement on the main events of his life, but most of the dates is disputed with different scholars” (Burnyeat, Vol.20, No.4). As you can see most of this information on Pythagoras is not documented but is highly supported by many scholars, but the dates are somewhat tentative. Research on Pythagoras would have been much more helpful if he kept a diary/journal or had someone document his life down instead of


Cited: Burnyeat, M. F. "Other Lives Vol.20 No.4." London Review of Books. LRB Ltd., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. . Houser, Nathan. "Peirce 's General Taxonomy Of Consciousness." Transactions Of The Charles S. Peirce Society 19.4 (1983): 331. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2012. Huffman, Carl. "Pythagoras." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Stanford University, 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. . John Barthell, et al. "Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching, And Influence By Christoph Riedweg, Translated By Steven Rendall." Mathematical Intelligencer 33.3 (2011): 153-154. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. Miller III, John F. "My Experiences With Pythagoras." Journal Of Religion & Psychical Research 21.4 (1998): 217. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Morris, Stephanie J. "The Pythagorean Theorem." The Pythagorean Theorem. University Of Georgia Mathematics, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. . Prochazka, Helen. "A Mystical Polygon." Australian Mathematics Teacher 60.4 (2004): 10. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.

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