Pythagoras of Samos

Born some time around 570 BC. Died some time around 495 BC (age ~75).

Pythagoras was an early Greek philosopher. He was credited as a scientist and mathematician in antiquity. However, many of the accomplishments ascribed to him cannot be confirmed. Alleged discoveries of Pythagoras include the Pythagroean Theorem, Pythagroean Tuning, the five Platonic solids, and that the stars Phosphorus and Hesperus were both actually Venus.

Pythagoras founded the Pythagorean School, a scientific, religious, and philosophical society. How much influence Pythagoras exerted on the Pythagoreans, and how much influence later disciples exerted is unclear. Purported tenets of the school include the study of mathematics, the study of musical theory, numerology, divination, reincarnation, ascetism, and vegetarianism. The Pythagoreans taught a method of living so as to cultivate a healthy soul.

The Pythagoreans believed that mathematics did not just model the real world, but that mathematics ARE the real world. For example, numbers and geometric entities are one and the same: one is a point, two is a line, three is a surface, and four is a volume. As such, all material bodies are expressions of the number four. As another example, pitch and harmony can be mathematicized. Therefore, all sounds are also numbers.

The Pythagoreans were early believers in the spherical nature of the Earth. They also believed that the Earth, planets, and Sun revolved around a central point known as the “Hearth of the Universe”.

The (purported) accomplishments of Pythagoras were largely mathetmatical in nature. The Pythagoreans were primarily a scientific and religious organization. However, Pythagoras’ contribution to philosophy is his enormous influence on Plato. Plato’s beliefs regarding cultivation of the soul and his attempts to mathematicize the Doctrine of Forms can be traced directly to Pythagoras.

∎