Pythagorean theorem
The Pythagorean theorem was known in various cultures for at least a thousand years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras (c. 570–495 BCE), with evidence from ancient Babylon, Egypt, India, and China. The theorem, which describes the relationship $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$ for a right-angled triangle, was not discovered by Pythagoras but was formally proven and popularized by him and his followers. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Babylonians: As early as 1900 BCE, a Babylonian clay tablet known as Plimpton 322 lists Pythagorean triples, showing an understanding of the theorem. [2, 5]
- Egyptians: Egyptian surveyors likely used a knotted rope with 12 evenly spaced knots to form a 3-4-5 right triangle, allowing them to create perfect right angles. [6, 7]
- India: Indian mathematical texts, such as the Sulbasutras, dating from around 800 BCE to 600 BCE, describe the theorem’s application. [3, 6]
- China: Ancient Chinese scholars also knew of this relationship, with the theorem appearing in texts like the Zhou Bi Suan Jing. [2]
- Pythagoras: While not the originator, Pythagoras and his followers are credited with the theorem because they were the first to provide a formal proof for it, generalizing the relationship to all right triangles. [3, 4]
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://amaral.northwestern.edu/blog/rediscovery-knowledge-pythagoras-theorem-stiglers
[2] https://www.history-of-mathematics.org/PythagoreanTheorem.html
[3] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OIXCEdqP0-I
[4] https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/pythag.html
[5] https://web.cs.ucla.edu/~klinger/dorene/math1.htm
[7] http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/Group3/hist.html
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