Even the most layman in mathematics is familiar with the Pythagoras theorem. They may not remember the formula, but they know that they saw it at school at some point. It is possibly one of the most important theorems in history. The one who elevated the Greek mathematician who gave him his name. There is only one small problem and that is that, in reality, the Pythagorean theorem is much older than Pythagoras himself. Come on, it’s not yours.
They tell it in an article IFLScience over one babylonian tablein which a formula to calculate the diagonal of a rectangle, knowing the measurement of its sides. Clearly, that formula is the Pythagoras theorembut the table comes from the year 1770 BC. Since Pythagoras was born in 570 BCabout 1,000 years later, something doesn’t add up.
And that something is that, in reality, Pythagoras came to explain something that was already known. In fact, it is not even clear that he used that formula. He used to meet with other mathematicians and philosophers in the Italian city of Crotonein what was known as the pythagorean school. What was talked about in those classes was totally secret. However, his students shared their wisdom from generation to generation, barely recording it in writing. Today, since there are almost no records, the knowledge that comes from the school is mostly attributed to Pythagoras, but it is more than likely that many of them were the fruit of the minds of his students. In this case, furthermore, it seems that it was not even an original idea of any of them.
What does the Pythagorean theorem say?
The Pythagorean theorem is one of the most useful theorems in geometry. The formula includes all three sides of a right triangle. That is, a triangle in which two of its sides, called cathetosform a right angle, opposite to the other side, called hypotenuse.
The formula says that the sum of the legs squared is equal to the hypotenuse squared. But it is not only used to calculate the sides of a triangle. It is used to know information about any geometric figure that can decompose into triangles of this type.
For example, if we take a rectangle and we draw your diagonal, We are left with two right triangles, in which the diagonal would be the hypotenuse. Babylonian mathematicians may not have had much idea about the sides of triangles. But, on that tablet on a rectangle, they were actually applying what would later be known as the Pythagorean theorem.
Babylonian mathematics
The mathematicians of ancient Mesopotamia, located in what is now Iraq, had very deep and well-recorded knowledge. Unlike the Pythagoreans, the Babylonians recorded all their theorems in clay tablets. Logically, some have not survived to this day, so a lot of information may have been lost.
But the tablets that have been preserved have brought to light very interesting data. These mathematicians had very good knowledge about fractions and algebra. They explained how to solve equations, both linear, in which the unknown does not have an exponent, and quadratic, where there is an unknown squared. They also talked about Prime numbersalthough they did not use that term, and they used a sexagesimal number systemlike the one currently used to measure times, with divisions of hours, minutes and seconds, by 60.
Therefore, it is not really strange that they already wrote the numbers of what would later become the Pythagoras theorem. It is undeniable that the Greek was a great mathematician. But he may have achieved fame for many things he did not do.
Around him, there would be mathematicians whose knowledge would be baptized under his seal, passing them into anonymity. In fact, among the members of that school was his own wife, Crotone Theanus. Today she has some recognition for her great contributions to mathematics, but not even a fraction of what her husband enjoys. Although she, in reality, may not have defined something so new either.