4 ms·

Funny to use the word transcendental there, since the Pythagoreans held ratios to be divine but couldn't figure out irrational numbers, like pi. They had troubl

• dr_dshiv 7y ago
  That's why I think Pythagoras refused to write down his doctrines. He knew there was more to be empirically discovered -- and he was wary of how text could become dogma. The divine he uncovered was based on a mathematical, harmonious cosmos; but he recognized it was beyond understanding in a lifetime. That's why Pythagorean mysticism is compatible with modern science -- he didn't write anything down! 2000 years later, Kepler had faith in a harmonious cosmos, and charged his model of harmony so it could fit the evidence. He elipsed the circles, instead of squaring them. Fun fact #1: it is impossible to square a circle [1] Fun fact #2: the Pythagoreans conducted the first attested scientific experiment in Western history (according to a recent PhD thesis at UMich [2]) [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaring_the_circle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaring_the_circle [2] https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/150050 https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/150050
• rhizome 7y ago
  "Transcendental" also appears in Calculus.