Is Pythagoras credited for his discovery?

Question

Is pythagoras Credited for his discovery of the Pythagorean Theorem? And how was he credited?

Answer 1

He is credited because it was named after him. I mean it isn't called the Led Zepplin Theorem, or the Rancid Theorem now is it? :)

So, that answers both parts of your question:

1. Was he credited? -- Yes
2. How was he credited? -- It bears his name.

HTH

Charles

Answer 2

The Pythagorean theorem was well known in the ancient world, well before the time of Pythagoras. Even though the theorem was known long before his time, Pythagoras generalized it and is credited with the first geometric proof of the general case.

Answer 3

Ovid's Metamorphoses describes a around earth, orbiting in area, interior the 1st century BC. Dante's Inferno (1320) additionally describes the earth as around. the thought that the earth is flat comes from the Bible. basically Christians ever believed one in each and every of those component, and not even all Christians (lots the way that immediately basically Christians have self assurance in a 6,000 365 days old earth). Pythagoras' artwork on the monochord, which shown that the musical octave corresponds to the mathematical ratio 2:a million, replaced into the 1st authentic concept of ways arithmetic could be used to locate the actual international, besides as describe it. In that experience, Pythagoras is the daddy of mathematical modeling, and circuitously the daddy of all cutting-edge technological know-how. Pythagoras' recognition has been intentionally obscured for millennia via christian church homes; they understand that awareness is Christianity's organic enemy.

Answer 4

Yes, he is "credited," in the sense that his name is attached to it. This kind of credit is in fact something that scientists today lust after, to be known for evermore because of some discovery one presumably made. It is known as "eponomy," as in "Pythagoras, of the eponymous Theorem, or "Boyle, as of the eponymous Law of Gases."

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that Pythagoras was necessarily the first person to discover it, but rather that he wrote about and disseminated it so much that his name became attached to it.

There is in fact an amusing maxim, that nevertheless has a good deal of truth in it :

"Great discoveries are named after the LAST person to discover (or aquire) them."

The reasoning is as follows:

The first person to discover something may not necessarily be in a position to either publicize or disseminate it, so that their name won't get attached to it outside a small circle, if that. However, if someone later DOES so disseminate and publicize it, THEIR name WILL become attached to it. And, once that is so, no-one else's name CAN become so attached.

Some examples of questionable credit:

Some people think that Robert Hooke discovered "Boyle's Law" --- a young mechanical genius, he was working for Robert Boyle at the time, perfecting what Boyle had been unable to make wortk properly, his so-called "Pneumatik Engine." The sad fact is that today, the person who leads research and pays the bills (if only through his/her grants) will sometimes be credited for what a post-doc or student really discovers.

L'Hopital is "credited" for his eponymous Rule on the limiting process to employ when the numerator and denominator of a fraction simultaneously tend to zero. But L'Hopital, an aristocrat, was PAYING one of the Bernoulis at the time for research and personal instruction, and had no qualms about "lifting" this result from him and claiming it as his own.

The distinguished American sociologist Robert K. Merton (a COMPLETELY invented name!) wrote a lot about credit, eponomy and priority, first in a celebrated speech on becoming the President of the American Sociological Society. He later wrote a most wonderful riff on one incident in the struggle for priority between Newton and Hooke, OTSOG or "On the Shoulders of Giants." Rather surprisingly, he was more interested in tracing the origin of the dwarf and giant image back through the centuries, than actually delving into what it all meant to Newton and Hooke themselves. (In line with the theme I've been expounding, although Newton himself is today largely "credited" with his famous "further/shoulders/giants" aphorism, it can in fact be traced back through John of Salisbury, Bernard of Chartres, and [who knows if ultimately] to the Roman poet Priscian." Fitting, considering the topic, don't you think?!)

Live long and prosper.

Answer 5

Of course he's credited. The theorem's NAMED after him. It could have been called the "right triangle hypotenuse" theorem.