Study math for long enough and you will likely have cursed Pythagoras’s name, or said “praise be to Pythagoras” if you’re a bit of a fan of triangles.

But while Pythagoras was an important historical figure in the development of mathematics, he did not figure out the equation most associated with him (a2 + b2 = c2). In fact, there is an ancient Babylonian tablet (by the catchy name of IM 67118) which uses the Pythagorean theorem to solve the length of a diagonal inside a rectangle. The tablet, likely used for teaching, dates from 1770 BCE – centuries before Pythagoras was born in around 570 BCE.

      • remotelove@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Recognized or not, I will be wondering if Pythagoras was actually the Edison of his time…

        • elscallr@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I have no doubt he discovered it independently and just knew better how to articulate its importance.

          • NucleusAdumbens@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            According to the article, the theorem was named for him out of respect for starting a school-society thing whose members in turn developed & popularized the theorem. So you should perhaps have at least some doubt