The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year HistoryAn exploration of one of the most celebrated and well-known theorems in mathematics |
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... figure (fig. P1), known in some traditions as “the windmill” and in others as “the bride's chair,” has been proposed as a cosmic identity card with which we might introduce ourselves to extraterrestrial beings, if and when we find them ...
A 4,000-Year History Eli Maor. Figure P1. The Pythagorean theorem: Euclid's view wrote in 1895: “It is as dazzlingly beautiful now as it was in the day when Pythagoras first discovered it.”1 He was ... Figure P2. PA × PB xii Preface ❖
... figure at an odd angle. A beautiful theorem? Perhaps, but not exactly a candidate for Miss America. If not elegance, what then is it that gives the Pythagorean theorem its universal appeal? Part of it, no doubt, has to do with the great ...
A 4,000-Year History Eli Maor. _ _ √ 2 a Figure 1.2. A square and its diagonal a a But there remains one unanswered question: why did the scribe choose ... Figure 1.3. Plimpton 322 Plimpton 322 (so named because it Mesopotamia, 1800 BCE 7 ❖
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Contents
1 | |
4 | |
2 Pythagoras | 17 |
3 Euclids Elements | 32 |
4 Archimedes | 50 |
5 Translators and Commentators 5001500 CE | 57 |
6 François Viète Makes History | 76 |
7 From the Infinite to the Infinitesimal | 82 |
12 From Flat Space to Curved Spacetime | 168 |
13 Prelude to Relativity | 181 |
14 From Bern to Berlin 19051915 | 188 |
15 But Is It Universal? | 201 |
16 Afterthoughts | 208 |
Samos 2005 | 213 |
Appendixes | 219 |
Chronology | 245 |
8 371 Proofs and Then Some | 98 |
9 A Theme and Variations | 123 |
10 Strange Coordinates | 145 |
11 Notation Notation Notation | 158 |
Bibliography | 251 |
Illustrations Credits | 255 |
Index | 257 |