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Posted by Q-tip on March 19, 1998 at 12:55:48:
In Reply to: can someone educate me on pythahreous, escpecially his triangle posted by Antisocial on February 11, 1998 at 18:47:09:
: hi,
: i want to know about Pythagreous (i can't even spell it right)
: and his ideas, escpecially the triangle and sqare root diagrams
: . i think i drew it correctly...
:
: *
: * *
: * * *
: * * * *
: what does this mean? i'm not as dumb as i write so
: please don't spare any details ;) any information at all would
: be helpful. Thank you! Just email at my address or post a reply
: -Antisocial
Greetings!
I've taken an interest in Pythagoras ever since my high school geometry teacher told me that the Pythagoreans made one of the most important contributions to civilization, and were weird, freaky, religious, cult people.
The pattern you've inserted in your submission is the Tetraktys, and there are a wide variety of interpretations of it, Pythagoras, and the Pythagoreans.
There are some really neat things that the Pythagoreans are given credit for:
The 'discovery' of a mathematical relationship between pitch (intervals),
and, of course, the Pythagorean Theorem.
They were vegetarians, and didn't eat beans.
They believed in the transmigration of souls--that people and animals have souls and that we switch places.
(This may be why they were vegetarians)
The concept of 'Number' was probably the most important to them, as Number is supposed to be something like a mirror-image of the cosmos.
All things are related to number, and number is related to all things.
They tried to categorize things by the number of stones outlining a thing.
(Sort of Aristotilian in a sense)
Not much is known about the Pythagoreans, and Pythagoras because they were a secret-society of sorts.
They didn't allow outsiders access to what they presumed to know, and even the insiders weren't told everything all at once.
Pythagoras went to Egypt, and Babalonia to learn about geometry and math.
They had a tri-partate theory of knowledge--to know anything requires someone to know, something to know, and knowledge.
One good general resource is "The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library" it gives alot of references with which to follow-up on.
Another is "The Pythagoreans: Lore and Science" ( I may have the title wrong) which goes into more depth, and gives some of the actual greek words used by secondary sources, and compares them to the Pythagoreans contemporaries.
One of their sayings was "Remember the Tetraktys"
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