Pythagoras

The founder of Pythagoreanism and an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher by the name of Pythagoras. In every memory of middle or high school geometry, the teacher drew right triangles on the board to illustrate the Pythagorean theorem. It was learned that the square of the longest side, or hypotenuse, is equal to the sum of the squares of the other sides. In other words, a2 + b2 equals c2. The evidence that came next added a degree of confidence that was uncommon in other high school subjects, such as social studies, and English.

Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, and mathematician who lived in the sixth century B.C., is credited with creating the theorem bearing his name and several proofs. Although many academics leave open the possibility that Pythagoras devised the first proof, Karen Eva Carr, a retired historian at Portland State University, claims that Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians employed the equation millennia before Pythagoras. Furthermore, Pythagoras' pupils frequently credited their teacher with their own mathematical discoveries, making it hard to distinguish between who came up with what.

According to legend, Pythagoras and his adherents engaged in a spiritual exercise called "smoke trapping". This entailed igniting a fire until poisonous gasses filled the area after entering a confined place, usually a cave. Because of the smoke's high levels of carbon monoxide and lack of oxygen, they would inhale it and have intense hallucinations. According to legend, they would see heavenly geometric patterns and designs, which they would then use charcoal to reproduce into the walls for further analysis.

Born - Died: c. 570 BC - c. 495 BC

Field: credited with inventing his namesake theorem and various proofs

Important contributions: Philosophical and mathematical