"Number rules the universe." —— Pythagoras 數字統治宇宙。——畢達哥拉斯

刊登日期: 2015.05.02
作者: Grace Tse  

You may not have heard of Pythagoras, an ancient Greek（希臘）mathematician and philosopher. However, you may have learned the following Pythagorean Theorem（畢氏定理）in geometry: a2 + b2 = c2. The theorem states that in a right-angled triangle, the area of the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides. 

This theorem had already been found by Babylonians（巴比倫人）, but it was given Pythagoras’ name because he is often said to have proved the theorem was true for all right-angled triangles. 

There are very few reliable written records about the life of Pythagoras. He is thought to have been born in about 570 BC（more than 2,500 years ago）on the Greek island of Samos（薩摩斯島）. 

When he was young, he travelled to Egypt and other places to pursue knowledge of mathematics and new ideas. Later he set up a religious group known as the Pythagoreans（畢達哥拉斯學派）. The members believed in the power of numbers and that everything in the universe could be explained by numbers. They followed strict rules such as never eating meat and beans. 

Pythagoras also believed that music was related to mathematics. The legend goes that when Pythagoras was walking past a blacksmith’s one day, he heard different sounds made when the hammers struck different sized anvils. He discovered that there was a connection between music and mathematics. 

There have been different stories about Pythagoras’ death. It is thought that Pythagoras fled from an uprising against the Pythagoreans in about 500 BC and was killed or starved himself to death. 

Geometry 幾何學

Right-angled triangle 直角三角形

Hypotenuse 斜邊

Written records 文字記錄

Strict rules 嚴格規條

Blacksmith 鐵匠

Anvils 鐵砧

 

Uprising 暴動