Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek" >Ancient Greek</a>: Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος [Πυθαγόρης in Ionian Greek] Pythagóras ho Sámios "Pythagoras the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samos" title="Samos" >Samian</a>", or simply Πυθαγόρας; b. about 570 – d. about 495 BC<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#cite_note-0" >[1]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#cite_note-1" >[2]</a>) was an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionians" title="Ionians" >Ionian</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greeks" title="Ancient Greeks" class="mw-redirect" >Greek</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_philosophy" title="Greek philosophy" class="mw-redirect" >philosopher</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematician" title="Mathematician" >mathematician</a>, and founder of the religious movement called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreanism" title="Pythagoreanism" >Pythagoreanism</a>. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samos" title="Samos" >Samos</a>, and might have travelled widely in his youth, visiting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt" >Egypt</a> and other places seeking knowledge. Around 530 BC, he moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotone" title="Crotone" >Croton</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_colony" title="Greek colony" class="mw-redirect" >Greek colony</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Graecia" title="Magna Graecia" >southern Italy</a>, and there set up a religious sect. His followers pursued the religious rites and practices developed by Pythagoras, and studied his philosophical theories. The society took an active role in the politics of Croton, but this eventually led to their downfall. The Pythagorean meeting-places were burned, and Pythagoras was forced to flee the city. He is said to have ended his days in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metapontum" title="Metapontum" >Metapontum</a>.

Pythagoras made influential contributions to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy" >philosophy</a> and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematician" title="Mathematician" >mathematician</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism" title="Mysticism" >mystic</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist" title="Scientist" >scientist</a>, but he is best known for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem" title="Pythagorean theorem" >Pythagorean theorem</a> which bears his name. However, because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Socratic_philosophy" title="Pre-Socratic philosophy" >pre-Socratic philosophers</a>, one can give account of his teachings to a little extent, and some have questioned whether he contributed much to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics" title="Mathematics" >mathematics</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy" title="Natural philosophy" >natural philosophy</a>. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors. Whether or not his disciples believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality is unknown. It was said that he was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras#cite_note-2" >[3]</a> and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato" >Plato</a>, and through him, all of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy" title="Western philosophy" >Western philosophy</a>.

Pythagoras

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