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Pythagorean Theorem found on clay tablet 1k years older than Pythagoras (2009)
- wly_cdgr 3y agoImpossible! Pythagoras wasn't born yet!
- Beijinger 3y agoMy math is a bit rusty, for a moment I was wondering about the proof of his theorem but then I realized that I messed up his theorem with the angles in a triangle that sum to 180°, which does not always hold up.
- seanhunter 3y agoIf the angles in a triangle don't add up to 180o then I think that means the triangle is not on a flat plane. An example would be if you took a point on the equator of the earth, moved East or West 1/4 of the earth's circumference and took another point and then projected those two points North until they met at the pole, you would have a triangle with 3 interior right angles.
- Beijinger 3y agoYes. Pythagoras theorem holds up in non-euclidian space but the sum of the angles is 180 degree does not.
- chud-guyver 3y ago[flagged]
- abhinai 3y agoIt needs to be renamed as the Tablet Theorem.
- umeshunni 3y agoActual paper from 2009: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jt.2009.16 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jt.2009.16 Link above is clickbait blogspam (like most things on IFLScience)
- dang 3y agoThanks! We've changed to that from https://www.iflscience.com/pythagorean-theorem-found-on-clay-tablet-1000-years-older-than-pythagoras-70934 https://www.iflscience.com/pythagorean-theorem-found-on-clay... above.
- akrauss 3y agoThe journal is named „Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing“, which may be the scientific equivalent of a clickbait blogspam site (but I haven’t checked more deeply).
- gwervc 3y agoThe paper title itself could pass as-is an Buzzfeed.
- mjfl 3y agodid they know about the Pythagorean theorem, or did they know about the square root of two? It seems that people did puzzle over this quantity for a while.
- saithound 3y agoEvery group who ever managed to build a building with a rectangular foundation figured out the relation between the side lengths and the diagonal. The Egyptians used Pythagorean triples to measure right angles way before the birth of Pythagoras. But that's not a theorem, just an observation. It becomes a theorem when you prove (i.e. explain why) this relationship always holds, based on more evident things. The Babylonian tablet mentioned in the article doesn't seem to do anything like that, whereas the Greeks definitely did (we don't know whether Pythagoras himself did it, as no writing of his survives, but later Greeks knew how to do it, and attributed it to Pythagoras).
- WalterBright 3y ago> Every group who ever managed to build a building with a rectangular foundation figured out the relation between the side lengths and the diagonal. I don't see why that was necessary. You can get pretty far with eyeballing it and custom cutting to fit.
- saithound 3y agoA "you" can, and many individual "you"s presumably did that, to general satisfaction. But the implicit assumption you made is that eyeballing and cutting is easy, while triangles are hard, even though it's the other way around, especially with stone age tools. But we're talking about groups of people, "they", who all build a lot. Such groups tend to have a few people who make these observations, and then the observations proliferate, because they are both way easier to use than the alternative hack-work, and yield much more aesthetically pleasing results. Especially in the stone age when you nornally don't have easy access to anything at all with a right angle (unlike in modern construction) and you build stuff out of clay bricks, where minor inaccuracies inevitably add up and make your life much harder down the road. Tying together three pieces of string with prescribed ratios, pull it tight was a very easy way to get a right angle compared to anything that came before. It's necessary in the sense that stone age construction is so much easier if you know about it, and so much harder if you don't. Those who didn't come up with it didn't do such construction, because doing difficult things is harder than doing easy things.
- dr_dshiv 3y agoPythagoras was specifically known for accumulating the wisdom of diverse cultures—supposedly he met Thales, was initiated as Egyptian priest in Hermopolis, spent time in Babylon after being captured, and was initiated into every mystery cult he could. And as a boy on his home island of Samos, he would have been exposed to the building of the largest stone temple in Ancient Greece (to Hera) and the incredible engineering feat of the tunnel of Eupalinos. Iamblichus’s “life of Pythagoras” [1] is worth a read as he had access to all the old sources now lost. The relationship between math and spirituality was very strong back then! There are lots of fun stories that may be true but no one will ever know. In Diogenes Laertius’ “Lives of the Philosophers,” it is claimed that when Pythagoras made his discovery of what we call the Pythagorean theorem, he sacrificed 100 oxen (a hecatomb) [1]. As noted by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carrol), “that would produce an inconvenient supply of meat” [3], especially for a vegetarian. Iamblichus, on the other hand, claims it was a single ox — and made of flour! [1] Guthrie, K. S., & Fideler, D. R. (Eds.). (1987). The Pythagorean sourcebook and library: an anthology of ancient writings which relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy. Red Wheel/Weiser. [2] “he sacrificed a hecatomb, when he had discovered that the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle was equal to the squares of the sides containing the right angle.” DL, found in [1] [3] Maor, E. (2019). The Pythagorean theorem: a 4,000-year history. Princeton University Press.
- snerc 3y ago"The relationship between math and spirituality was very strong back then!" According to those whose communication ended up being indelible. I wonder how we'll be able to preserve digital info for millennia?
- somenameforme 3y agoOh how can you skip the most fun tale of them all. [1] Its authenticity is dubious, but there's probably at least parts of truth in it. In a nutshell, Pythagoras started a cult based around numbers, and the pseudo-divine purity of rational numbers - of which everything can be represented. Hippasus, a member of said cult, however managed to compellingly demonstrate that the square root of 2 could not be a rational number. Pythagorus tried to swear him to silence. When that did no twork, he had him killed. Over the square root of 2. [1] - https://sciencefocus.ust.hk/the-square-root-of-two-at-the-cost-of-a-life https://sciencefocus.ust.hk/the-square-root-of-two-at-the-co...
- mindblown9 3y agoHow did he live for so long?!
- sn41 3y agoThe earlier drafts of the proof were rejected by editors. He had to fight.
- loganc2342 3y ago> The Pythagorean Theorem is arguably the most famous statement in mathematics, and the fourth most beautiful equation. Just out of curiosity, which equations are considered the top three “most beautiful?”
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoAsk ten people you will get ten different answers.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mauvia 3y agoI know the top one is generally considered to be Euler's Equation. e^(i * pi) + 1 = 0 It's considered incredibly elegant because it manages to combine multiple fundamental mathematical concepts into a single equation. 1 is the multiplicative identity, 0 is the additive identity, pi is the circle constant, e is euler's number, i is the square root of -1, the basic building block of complex numbers.
- travisjungroth 3y agoIMO, it’s better with tau. e^(i * tau) = 1 You lose the 0, but isn’t it a bit odd the 0 is there in the first place? Normally we’d reduce it to: e^(i * pi) = -1 Which obviously isn’t as nice in this case. And hey, if we’re allowed to break the conventions, you can have the 0 back easily. e^(i * tau) = 1 + 0
- mkl 3y agoThe 0 and the + are important: e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0 contains the 5 most important constants and the three most important operations. Getting them back with "+ 0" is quite inelegant.
- 3y ago
- layer8 3y ago> Why did the scribe choose a side of 30 for his example? Clearly because that makes the answer for the diagonal 42.
- personjerry 3y agoI know it was known in China at least before Pythagoras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhoubi_Suanjing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhoubi_Suanjing
- User23 3y agoPerhaps it was, but the article you link denies the certainty of that statement.
- freework 3y agoI've seen this tablet before, and an not convinced that it is actually the Pythagorean theorem. Its just a tablet with some tick marks inscribed onto it, along with a circular looking thing. It's very much a stretch to say the person who etched those markings intended to express the Pythagorean theorem. There was a point in time when I was very interested in ancient civilizations from Mesopotamia, but in more recent years I an way less interested in it. The scholarship in that field is just terrible. In my opinion, a lot of the stuff is on par with alien "investigators" and stuff like that, yet for some reason the general public sees the field as totally legit.
- mandmandam 3y agoI would argue with you, but you've just produced a bunch of squiggles. > It's very much a stretch to say the person who etched those markings intended to express the Pythagorean theorem. No it isn't. There are legit reasons to question a lot of the research on ancient civs, but that isn't one of them.
- freework 3y agoHow is this different from seeing a fuzzy video of some lights in the sky and then coming to the conclusion that it is definitely a UFO? If you're so convinced that this carving definitely proves that the carver was intending to express the Pythagorean formula, then what is the evidence? Some people's definition of "evidence" is different from my own. If somebody really wants to believe something, then just about anything qualifies as evidence. This is why UFO people consider literally every single fuzzy video as undeniable proof that aliens exist.
- orf 3y ago… because those “squiggles” are just “words” in a “language” you can’t “read”? And if you could read it, you would find it contains a lot of relevant things, concluding with: > … 1.414213, which is nothing other than the decimal value of the square root of 2, accurate to the nearest one hundred thousandth. You might then think to yourself: > The conclusion is inescapable. The Babylonians knew the relation between the length of the diagonal of a square and its side Which is all clearly explained in the article you’re commenting on. Do you have anything else meaningful to add, beyond “it’s nuffin’ but squiggles mate” and “aliens”?
- nologic01 3y agoIts only fitting that the now defunct "Journal for Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing" would have a clickbaity and misleading title on an article that seems completely off-topic and of very poor quality. A Springer sponsored precursor to the SEO driven abominations of today maybe? Confusing calculation with proof is an inexcusable mistake for any serious journal. There can be little doubt that proving theorems is a cognitive tool that developed on the basis of observed regularities. But both asking the question why and, importantly, answering it using logic are highly non-trivial developmemts.
- smokel 3y agoI sometimes wonder how people will remember the invention of computers, smartphones, and the internet in a few centuries. People will most probably learn that either Bill Gates or Elon Musk invented it all in one evening when an apple fell from a tree.
- rkagerer 3y agoThis may be a bit forced, but you missed a golden opportunity to capitalize the "A" in that sentiment and accerate my reaction.
- bambax 3y agoI wonder the same thing. See this video about "the Beatles in 1,000 years" for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI It's a parody but I wonder how close to the truth it is...
- RetroTechie 3y agoHistory is written by some combo of historians & surviving records. With "records" being any physical objects that outlast oral history: writings, clay tablets, the pyramids of Egypt, etc. (and note the "surviving" bit!) This says nothing of what really happened in the past. Only what exists in the present to support particular reconstructions of past events.
- helsinkiandrew 3y agoDiscussion on HN 7 years ago about parallel proofs after discovery in a 2600 year old Chinese book: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13952265 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13952265
- jeisc 3y agoNames are important as they indicate things; maybe Triangle Theorems would be better to cover the properties of triangles; perhaps there are other ones which we missed discovering... hubris has no limits
- renewiltord 3y agoStigler's law of eponymy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler%27s_law_of_eponymy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler%27s_law_of_eponymy
- bagels 3y agoDiogenes said that Pythagoras hated beans: “One should abstain from fava beans, since they are full of wind and take part in the soul, and if one abstains from them one’s stomach will be less noisy and one’s dreams will be less oppressive and calmer.”
- dekelpilli 3y agoMaybe Pythagoras had a G6PD deficiency. It is more common in males and people with a Mediterranean background[0]. [0] - https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/G6PD-deficiency https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/G6PD-deficiency
- mcpackieh 3y agoI guess they hadn't yet figured out this little kernel of wisdom: Beans, beans, they're good for your heart. The more you eat, the more you fart. The more you fart the better you feel, so eat your beans with every meal.
- elteto 3y agoI can definitely see this as Diogenes trolling Pythagoras.
- leke 3y agoKind of reminds me of that "Bro, I stole your code" - "It's not my code" meme.
- revskill 3y agoI have a curiousity. Is there a theorem or conjecture like this ? "For any irrational number, like square root of 2, we can always find the approximation of at most 3 rational numbers with just +,-,* and /" ?
- Xophmeister 3y agoIf you're allowing division, you can get arbitrarily close with just two (potentially very large) integers.
- vanderZwan 3y agoI guess the more interesting conjecture would be stating something about the size of the integers compared to the irrational number
- alanbernstein 3y agoContinued fractions can be used to find best rational approximations. But you can also just use floor(x*10^n)/10^n.
- loondri 3y agoIt's interesting that Pythagoras gets credit for a theorem he may not have discovered, especially when there's proof that Babylonians knew it 1000 years earlier. This challenges the idea that ancient Greek mathematicians were always ahead of others.
- Chiba-City 3y ago[dead]
- seanhunter 3y agoIt's in the tradition of maths that things are named after the second person to prove them/make them well known. There are numerous examples, but one of my favourites is Venn diagrams, which were called (by Venn) "Eulerean Circles" because he took them from Euler. Everyone else is like "Nope - Venn Diagrams." It's probably just as well because otherwise just about everything would be named after Gauss which would make learning maths even more difficult than it already is. The Pythagoreans did make a number of important discoveries to do with number theory, the ratios between string lengths for various musical notes (eg twice as long is an octave lower etc), cosmology and some other results in geometry to do with the properties of various 3-d shapes and stuff.
- loondri 3y agoInteresting, thanks for sharing this
- drexlspivey 3y agoIt’s interesting that people in a CS forum don’t seem to know what a theorem is. The tablet shows that the relationship was known, a theorem needs a proof
- detourdog 3y agoI think it is the latin based culture that hold the greeks up as the great ones.
- pyninja 3y agoSo many red flags in the abstract alone. It's no surprise that the article itself looks like a middle school project.
- chx 3y agoAs a side note Dijkstra has a wonderful generalization and it has a nice proof at https://www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/Stevens.shtml https://www.cut-the-knot.org/pythagoras/Stevens.shtml and I was wondering whether this is old as well.
- the_origami_fox 3y agoFor anyone wondering how they got the approximation sqrt(2)=1+24/60+51/60^2+10/60^3. It's based on the simple idea that: Z = (a + b)^2 = (a^2 + (2a+b)*b) => (2a+b)* b < Z-a^2 Given an initial estimate "a", we need to find the largest "b" such that the term on the left is less than the term on the right. Therefore our estimate will always be slightly less than the actual answer and we can repeat the process to get slightly closer. For the first iteration, Z=2 and a=1. We choose b=x/60: (2+x/60)*x/60 < 2-1^2 120x + x^2 < 3600 x = 24 ... 3456 < 3600 x = 25 ... 3625 > 3600 So our first term is 24/60. Repeat with a=1+24/60 and b=x/60^2: (2(1+24/60)+x/60^2)*x/60^2< 2-(1+24/60)^2 10080x+x^2 < 518_400 x = 51 ... 516_681 < 518_400 x = 52 ... 526_864 > 518_400 Repeat multiple times. Writing this in code I can easily get: 1;24,51,10,7,46,6,4,44,50,28 = 1.4142135623730951 This whole process can be codified into the long division algorithm for square roots which works quite neatly with base 10. Edit: formatting
- PretzelPirate 3y agoWhy do you choose b=x/60 for the first iteration? That isn't obvious to me, but 60 must be an obvious choice to be chosen.
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoYou can choose any integer > 1 For example if you choose 2 you will get the binary expansion.
- the_origami_fox 3y agoAnd if you choose b=x/10, x/100, x/1000 ... then each iteration will add the exact decimal point.
- gleapsite2 3y agoBase 60 was the number system for the Sumarians/Babylonians. > Sexagesimal, also known as base 60 or sexagenary, is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3rd millennium BC, was passed down to the ancient Babylonians, and is still used—in a modified form—for measuring time, angles, and geographic coordinates.
- bandrami 3y agoThe formula wasn't why people cared at the time; it had been empirically known for centuries. What caused such a stir was he was the first person to prove that for "most" right triangles there are no rational numbers P, Q such that PA = QC for leg A and hypotenuse C. That was what was earth-shaking.
- lynguist 3y agoThe mainstream is and was _enamored_ with Ancient Greece. Our Western culture made Ancient Greek into the vocabulary root of our sciences. We have a lineage of philosophy from Ancient Greece to the 19th century. Only in the 19th century with archeology (again a neo-word made from Ancient Greek roots – it suggests to the mainstream that the Ancient Greek had a concept of archaeology, which they obviously didn’t have) we saw the truth: History goes thousands of years deeper, the origin of everything is thousands of years older. Only 30 years ago the capital city of Hattuša was discovered; and only in the 20th century we gained an understanding of the multiple levels of the historic city of Troy. Only recently we understand that "it didn’t start with Ancient Greece", but the mainstream still follows the tradition of medieval grammar schools and doesn’t look beyond Ancient Greece.
- nequo 3y agoThe Greek still did something remarkable that to my knowledge we don’t have record of from before: they started a culture of free thinking that grew into philosophy, logic, and scientific inquiry. They also sentenced some of their free thinkers to death for not worshipping the gods but that’s a separate issue.
- goodbyesf 3y ago> they started a culture of free thinking that grew into philosophy, logic, and scientific inquiry. Culture of free thinking? Socrates, the most iconic free thinker of all time was forced to commit suicide by the greeks. So much for a culture of free thinking. > They also sentenced some of their free thinkers to death for not worshipping the gods but that’s a separate issue. It isn't. It directly contradicts and refutes your assertion.
- nequo 3y ago> Socrates, the most iconic free thinker of all time was forced to commit suicide by the greeks. See my last sentence. > It directly contradicts and refutes your assertion. Maybe Greek society was not a homogeneous mass, and some parts of it nurtured free thinking while others reacted against it?
- jaystraw 3y agoAnyone in the threads I collapsed should buy a speed square and read the booklet. Possibly over beer or tea.
- Perenti 3y agoI recall seeing that there was a 14 000 year old dear scapula found in China that had the "simple proof" diagram engraved on it. The article seems to say that Pythagoras' Theorem was discovered by the Mesopotamians, but neglects mentioning it may be _much_ older. Someone above commented that just by building ancient peoples would have discovered this relationship.
- maroonblazer 3y agoI was surprised to learn that U.S. President Garfield devised a proof of Pythagoras' theorem. It got me wondering what other U.S. Presidents had an aptitude for math. Jefferson (3rd President) was quite fluent in geometry and surveying, designing his home in Monticello. Herbert Hoover (31st) was a mining engineer. Jimmy Carter (39th) was a nuclear engineer by training, having worked in the U.S. Navy's nuclear sub program.
- gen220 3y agoGeorge Washington was also a surveyor before his later career(s). It was a well-trodden path to wealth and status for people of middling backgrounds and aptitudes for math and law in the pre-revolutionary U.S.
- kridsdale3 3y agoJust as Software Engineering is today.
- macintux 3y agoObligatory link for those unfamiliar with the story: Jimmy Carter averted a full-scale nuclear meltdown in Canada at great personal risk. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jimmy-carter-nuclear-meltdown/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jimmy-carter-nuclear-meltd...
- kridsdale3 3y agoAnd clearly that dose of radiation, in mid-1950's comic book fashion, imbued his cells with unnatural longevity!
- kridsdale3 3y agoJefferson also apparently published theorems on ideal geometric layouts of human settlement, which Salt Lake City is based on.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Tainnor 3y agoThe article claims that the Babylonians "discovered" the Pythagorean theorem, but all it shows is that they (probably) believed it to be true. Until we have better evidence, it still seems to be the case that (at least in the "West", I'm unfamiliar with e.g. Chinese mathematics) the Greeks were the first to come up with the concept of a mathematical proof that is valid deductively, and not inductively.
- eruci 3y agoPrior art - Even Pythagoras didn't come up with Pythagoras's Theorem.
- Vt71fcAqt7 3y agoHas anyone found the source for that tablet? All I have found is this: >Note that quite a few descriptions on Babylonian tablets seem to cite a translation of a Pythagorean algorithm from a ca. 1900BC tablet by a Dennis Ramsey – I have not been able to find the original source of this anywhere.[0] The linked arctile cites wikipedia and bible-history.com. This book[1] misquotes the supposed tablet as being ycb 7289, probably because these tablets are referenced next to each other on wikipedia. This[2] website says it's in the British museum. [0]https://craftofcoding.wordpress.com/author/spqr/ https://craftofcoding.wordpress.com/author/spqr/ [1]https://books.google.com/books?id=XDBCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT257&lpg=PT257&dq=%224+is+the+length+and+5+is+the+diagonal.+What+is+the+breadth?+Its+size+is+not+known.+4+times+4+is+16.+And+5+times+5+is+25.+You+take+16+from+25+and+there+remains+9.+What+times+what+shall+I+take+in+order+to+get+9?+3+times+3+is+9.+3+is+the+breadth%22&source=bl&ots=rpq5LBD67m&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj514O-hN-BAxWmvokEHZDhCV0Q6AF6BAgJEAE#v=onepage&q=%224%20is%20the%20length%20and%205%20is%20the%20diagonal.%20What%20is%20the%20breadth%3F%20Its%20size%20is%20not%20known.%204%20times%204%20is%2016.%20And%205%20times%205%20is%2025.%20You%20take%2016%20from%2025%20and%20there%20remains%209.%20What%20times%20what%20shall%20I%20take%20in%20order%20to%20get%209%3F%203%20times%203%20is%209.%203%20is%20the%20breadth%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=XDBCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT257&lpg=... [2]https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_Pythagoras/ https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_...
- zestyping 3y agoThe source of the photo is cited in the article: https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html This site has a detailed analysis and explains that it's from the Yale Babylonian Collection.
- Vt71fcAqt7 3y agoI am refering to this quote: >4 is the length and 5 the diagonal. What is the breadth ? Its size is not known. 4 times 4 is 16. 5 times 5 is 25. You take 16 from 25 and there remains 9. What times what shall I take in order to get 9 ? 3 times 3 is 9. 3 is the breadth. That doesn't appear to be in your link – am I wrong? I only see numbers there and it appears to be talking about something else entirely.
- stainablesteel 3y agoi'm not surprised basic geometry was probably fundamental to the architecture necessary to make civilizations i'd bet that as far back as we can find large structure there would probably have been strong understandings of geometry to make them plus, humans have been around for 200-300k years, what we can find is from ~12k-25k years ago at the very fringe of our investigations. no doubt people have been mathematically capable for longer than they've been able to take full advantage of the concepts they understand
- zacharycohn 3y agoSo Pythagoras also invented time travel??
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoThe original example of Stigler’s law of eponymy.
- bannedbybros 3y ago[dead]
- xwowsersx 3y ago> who uses the theorem two decades later for something about relatively I assume that should read relativity*?
- zestyping 3y agohttps://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/ybc.html This is the original site about the tablet and has more detail and analysis than the Springer article. https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/analysis.html https://personal.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/ybc/analysis.html
- voisin 3y agoWhy was this published in the Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing?
- bzmrgonz 3y agoThis probably went up in smoke along soo many other knowledge gems at the Alexandria Library!!
- tiffanyh 3y agoMass publication. People typically wrongly attribute findings not to the person who first discovered it, but to the person who was able to most widely communicate/publish about it. This is a particular difficult challenge in ancient times. Knowledge was often shared verbally, not in written form. Or if it was in written form, the material used has long since deteriorated. So most of what we know about ancient thinking is based on knowledge that was so widely known and written that there's multiple copies of it; or the knowledge was communicated on a hard material like stone (egyptian hieroglyphics) ... but that doesn't mean it was the first ancients knew of it, it just means that the particular knowledge in written form has lasted the test of time the longest.
- cobbzilla 3y agoAccording to Shaquille [1], it’s still an unsolved problem. [1] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/shaquille_oneal_381872 https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/shaquille_oneal_381872
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- teleforce 3y agoContributions to the body of knowledge is not and never ever been monopolized by any particular nation or civilization but if you read most modern textbooks you're forgiven to think that it was all started with Greek civilization and then nothing of significance happened until Renaissance movement in the 14th CE (conveniently skipping the contributions of the Roman (namely Rome and Byzantine) and Muslim empires (namely Rashidun, Umayyad, Abassid, Andalusian Spanish, Ottoman)). A popular Monty Python sketch of "What have the Roman's done to us" perfectly summarized this ridiculous sentiment.[1] The fact that many contributions from other older civilizations for examples Indus Valley (Indian) where the original cuneiform alphabet was started and Phoenician (Arabic) where most of the modern alphabets (Latin, Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit) originated. The former Indus Valley script has not even been successfully deciphered yet until today (Nobel price in waiting for the ones who will deciphered them), perhaps they are some older proofs that are just waiting to be discovered upon the understanding of the Indus Valley scripts and languages. But the nonsensical narrative of whom has the monopoly of contributions to knowledge will carry on until the end of time but the reality is that we are just standing on the shoulders of giants [2]. [1] What have the Roman's done to us: https://youtu.be/kCXoUZSgE08 https://youtu.be/kCXoUZSgE08 [2]Standing on the shoulders of giants: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of...
- mayd 3y agoThis discussion leaves unclear the the role of Pythagoras of Samos in the discovery of the Pythagorean Theorem. The statement of the theorem appears to have been known before the time of Pythagoras. He is credited with giving the first proof of the theorem, within the framework of Greek mathematics. On that claim his fame rests, although no record of his proof has survived.