Pythogoras of Samos Essay examples - 1350 Words

Pythagoras of Samos is often described as the first pure mathematician. He is an extremely important figure in the development of mathematics yet we know little about his achievements. There is nothing that is truly accurate pertaining to Pythagorass writings. Today Pythagoras is certainly a mysterious figure. Little is known of Pythagorass childhood. Pythagorass father was Mnesarchus, and his mother was Pythais. Mnesarchus was a merchant who came from Tyre. Pythais was a native of Samos. As a child Pythagoras spent his early years in Samos, but traveled with his father. There are accounts, that during their travels, Mnesarchus returned to Tyre with Pythagoras, and had him taught there by the Chaldaeans. â€Å"Certainly growing up he was†¦show more content†¦Pythagoras made a journey to Crete shortly after his return to Samos to study the system of laws there. After a short stay in Crete, Pythagoras found himself back in Samos. There he discovered a school called the semicircle. This was the site of his own philosophical teaching, spending most of the night and daytime there and doing research into the uses of mathematics. He tried to use his unique method of teaching, which was similar to the lessons he had learned in Egypt, but Samians were not very keen on this. Pythagoras saw that the Samians were not giving him the respect and credit he deserved, so he moved on Pythagoras left and founded a philosophical/religious school in Croton on the southern tip of Italy. His school practiced secrecy and communalism making it hard to tell the difference between the work of Pythagoras and work of his followers. Although it did made outstanding contributions to mathematics. Pythagoras gained many followers there, and became the head of a society with an inner circle of followers known as mathematikoi. The mathematikoi lived permanently with the Society, had no personal possessions and were vegetarians. â€Å"They weren’t acting as a mathematics research group does in a modern university. There were no ‘open- problems’ for them to solve, and they were not in any sense interested in trying to create or solve mathematical problems. Rather Pythagoras was interested in teaching the principles of