28/11/2018

Pythagoras is not the author of the theorem that bears his name.

Reproduction of Marcelo Viana's column in Folha de S.Paulo.

Although he is the most well-known mathematician to the public, little is known about the life and work of Pythagoras. Worse, the scarce information we have is contradictory. Was he a brilliant pioneer who took the first steps in transforming mathematics into a rigorous science? Or a mystic obsessed with esoteric themes, such as reincarnation and peculiar rules, like the prohibition against eating beans? Part of the confusion is due to his followers having split after his death, transmitting antagonistic views of his ideas.

As far as we know, Pythagoras was born on the Greek island of Samos around 560 BC and died in southern Italy around 480 BC. In his youth, he traveled through Egypt and Babylon, absorbing mathematical knowledge. Around 530 BC, he settled in the Greek colony of Croton, where he founded a philosophical and religious society that exerted considerable political influence in Magna Graecia, the group of Greek colonies in southern Italy.

Pythagoras divided his followers into "akousmatikoi" (listeners), who were forbidden to speak and could only memorize the master's words; and "mathematikoi" (mathematicians, or apprentices), the more advanced, who could ask questions and even express opinions. He only transmitted his principles clearly to the latter. The "akousmatikoi" received only vague and mysterious outlines.

After his death, the two groups are believed to have evolved into rival factions, transmitting distinct versions of the teachings: mystical and esoteric, by the "akousmatikoi," and rational and scientific, by the "mathematikoi." But it is possible that the distinction was not so strict.

The foundation of Pythagorean philosophy was the idea that everything is number. It was based on the discovery that musical harmonies can be expressed through numbers. More beautiful harmonies are given by notes whose frequencies are in simple ratios, such as (2:1) or (3:2).

Another foundation of his belief lay in astronomy, which Pythagoras had learned from the Babylonians. He believed that the periodic movements of the planets were somehow related to musical intervals, suggesting that the movement of celestial bodies produces a kind of harmony in the heavens, the "music of the stars."

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