If you’ve studied mathematics long enough, you’ve probably cursed the name of Pythagoras, or said “Praise be to Pythagoras” if you’re a fan of triangles.

However, although Pythagoras was an important historical figure in the development of mathematics, he could not find the equation most associated with him (a 2 + b 2 = c 2). In fact, there is an ancient Babylonian tablet (under the sensational name IM 67118) that uses the Pythagorean theorem to determine the length of the diagonal within a rectangle. The tablet, probably used for teaching purposes, dates to 1770 BC, several centuries before Pythagoras was born around 570 BC.

Another tablet from around 1800-1600 BC. to. There is a square with triangles marked inside. Translation of notes in base 60, the number system used by the ancient Babylonians, showed that these ancient mathematicians knew the Pythagorean theorem (though of course it wasn’t called that), as well as other advanced mathematical concepts.

“The conclusion is inevitable. The Babylonians knew the ratio between the length of the diagonal and the side of a square: d=square root of 2,” writes mathematician Bruce Ratner in an article on the subject. “It was probably the first irrational number. But this means that they were familiar with the Pythagorean theorem – or at least the special case of the diagonal of the square (d 2 = a 2 a 2 = 2a 2) – more than a thousand years ago. “The great sage named in his honor.”

So why was it attributed to Pythagoras? No original recordings by Pythagoras survive. What we know about him was passed down by others, including the Pythagoreans, members of the school he founded in what is now Italy. The school, called Pythagoras’ Semicircle, was secret, but knowledge gained or discovered there was passed on and often attributed to the man himself.

Ratner continued: “One of the reasons why Pythagorean primary sources were rare was that Pythagorean knowledge was passed on by word of mouth from one generation to the next, because written material was scarce.” “Moreover, out of respect for their leader, many discoveries made by the Pythagoreans have been attributed to Pythagoras himself; This explains the term “Pythagorean theorem”.

Although Pythagoras did not invent this theory, his school undoubtedly popularized it, and the theory remained associated with him for at least the next several thousand years. Source