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Pythagoras

Mathematics

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and polymath who lived around 570 to 495 BC and founded Pythagoreanism, a philosophical and religious movement centered on a communal school he established at Croton in southern Italy around 530 BC, where initiates lived ascetically and observed vows of silence. Ancient tradition credited him with major discoveries including the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, and early ideas about the spherical shape of the earth, though modern scholars debate how many of these he personally originated rather than his later followers. His most securely attested teaching is metempsychosis, the doctrine that the soul is immortal and transmigrates into new bodies after death.

Facts
Partially Attested
Birth Year
570 BCE 1
Approximate; around 570 BC, entered as a negative year.
Notable Work
Pythagorean theorem (traditionally credited) 1
Credit for the theorem is traditional and debated by modern scholars.
Field
Philosophy 1
Nationality
Greek 1
Birthplace
Samos 1
Disputed
Death Place
Croton or Metapontum 1
Sources give either Croton or Metapontum.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Pythagoras, Wikipedia
  • Early life, birthplace
    born on the Greek island of Samos in the eastern Aegean
  • Early life, birth date
    which would give a date of birth around 570 BC
  • Death section
    either Croton or Metapontum
  • Opening paragraph, field
    was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher
  • Opening paragraph, nationality
    ancient Ionian Greek philosopher
  • Mathematics section
    Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem
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