Essay/Term paper: Pythagoras

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Essays

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.