Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and religious teacher who lived around 570 to 495 BCE.

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and religious teacher who lived around 570 to 495 BCE. He founded a school or brotherhood in Croton in southern Italy, and his ideas influenced later Greek philosophy, mathematics, and Western thought. Many details of his life are uncertain, and some teachings associated with him may have come from his followers.

Life

Pythagoras was born on Samos around 570 BCE and later settled in Croton, where he became the centre of a philosophical and religious movement. Ancient sources disagree on details of his life, and much of the surviving tradition is later and partly legendary.

Teachings

Pythagorean teaching linked mathematics with ethics, religion, and the order of the cosmos. Reported beliefs include reincarnation, ritual purity, and the view that numbers are fundamental to reality.

Mathematical legacy

Pythagoras is best known today for the Pythagorean theorem, but historians note that the theorem was known before him in other ancient civilizations. His school nevertheless played an important role in developing Greek mathematics and number theory.

Influence

Pythagorean ideas influenced Plato and Aristotle and helped shape later Greek and Western philosophical traditions. The Pythagorean movement also contributed to later work in music theory, astronomy, and mathematical thought.