Ramya Sundaram

Rivoire

2A Geometry

22 May 2009

The Father of Numbers: Pythagoras

1. Who is your Subject?

My Subject is Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician.

2. When was he/she born? Where?

He was born on Samos, a Greek island, between 580 and 572 B.C.

3.When and where did he/she die?

Pythagoras died in Metapontum, Greece circa 500 B.C.

4. What was the cause of death?

Pythagoras's cause of death is unspecified.

5. Details of his life:

Childhood and schooling- Although little is known about the childhood of Pythagoras, he had to have a
very good education, had to learn to play the lyre, learn poetry, and to recite Homer. There were three
teachers, who were philosophers that greatly influenced him in his young life. They were Pherekydes,
Thales, and Anaximander.

Professional life- Pythagoras is described as the first pure mathematician, meaning that he was solely
interested in the principles of mathematics, the concept of numbers, the concept of a triangle and other
mathematical shapes, and proofs. He is infamous for his theorem, the Pythagorean Theorem, in which
he proved. He also contributed to geometry with the following: the sum of the angles of a triangle is
equal to two right angles, a polygon with n sides has sum of interior angles (2n - 4) right angles and sum
of exterior angles equal to four right angles, and solving quadratic equations by geometrical means. He
was an prodigious mathematician, yet he was primarily a philosopher.

Personal life- He formed a society of mathematician followers who called themselves Pythagoreans. This
cultural center was overseen by very strict rules. They lived at school, had no personal belongings, and
were required to adopt a mainly vegetarian diet. The Pythagoreans followed a structured life of religious
teaching, common meals, exercise, reading and philosophical study. Music featured as an essential
organizing factor of this life; the disciples would sing hymns to Apollo together regularly. They used the
lyre to cure illness of the soul or body and poetry recitations occurred before and after sleep to aid the
memory. In his family life, Pythagoras had a wife named Theano and two daughters named Myia and
Arignote.

6. What was the person's contributions to geometry?

Pythagoras contributed to geometry by proofing the Pythagorean theorem and discovered many
postulates that are critical in geometry.
 Works Cited

"Pythagoras." NNDB. May 2009. 21 May 2009 <http://www.nndb.com/people/773/000087512/>.

"Pythagoras." Stetson. 21 May 2009 <http://www.stetson.edu/~efriedma/periodictable/html/Y.html>.

"Pythagoras." Wikipedia. 7 May 2009. 21 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras>.

"Pythagoras." iloveindia. May 2009. iloveindia. 21 May 2009 <http://festivals.iloveindia.com/teachers-

day/famous-teachers/pythagoras.html>.