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| Dr.Nikki's |
| Pythagorean Mathmatics |
| Pythagorean Mathematics Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Py-thag-o-re-an! Eeeppp!! A word designed to make most middle school math students quake at the sound. In all honesty, for over 2500 years now mathematicians and philosophers have tried to unravel the Pythagorean mysteries (whip that one out while trying to help that youngster through the Pythagorean Theorem helps break the tension when they realize that the greatest minds of the ages haven’t completely figured Pythagarus out!). It’s not that there haven’t been phenomenally intelligent people trying to solve these mysteries through the ages. |
| Learn of Pythagoras (c.582-c.507 B.C.), founder of the Pythagorean School |
| school of math, the Pythagorean School was more a school of spirituality and philosophy. One of the most thorough studies of Pythagorean Theory was compiled by Thomas Taylor in his work Theoretic Arithmetic. This work is considered to be |
| During the last 500 years there has been a tremendous amount of information to come out of secret schools that study the mysteries. However, nothing really new has been discovered, revealed or brought to light. Fragments of the Pythagorean School’s writings still remain but give no clear direction of the more intimate mysteries. Those were never committed to writing, but were purportedly taught orally to a chosen few. Although volumes have been written – within the realm of the hard science of mathematics, within the realm of philosophy, and a combination of both – the central secrets of the Pythagorean School are lost to history. |
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Actually, if the Pythagorean Mystery School were in operation today, we’d probably call it a cult. The central members of the school lived in austerity with Pythagarus, but this was a select few. They adhered to strict codes of behavior, study and belief in numbers. Other, less committed members were allowed to carry on their lives normally outside of the school. Theses members would attend lectures, classes, devotions and discussions during the day, but would return to their homes and families at the end of the day. Both men and women were believed to be a part of the Pythagorean School. Not nearly so much a |
| probably the single most important work on Pythagorean Theory. Mr. Taylor felt that Pythagorean Mathematics were so important that he dedicated the opening chapters of his book to the discussion of Pythagorus’ theories of math. This quote from Mr. Taylor’s book shows the combining of philosophy and science that was so important to Pythagorus and his followers. Perfect numbers, therefore, are beautiful images of the virtues which are certain media between excess and defect, and are not summits, as by some of the ancients they were supposed to be. And evil indeed is opposed to evil, but both are opposed to one good. Good, however, is never opposed to good, but to two evils at one and the same time. Thus timidity is opposed to audacity, to both [of] which the want of true courage is common; but both timidity and audacity are opposed to fortitude. Craft also is opposed to fatuity, to both [of] which the want of intellect is common; and both these are opposed to prudence. Thus, too, profusion is opposed to avarice, to both [of] which illiberality is common; and both these are opposed to liberality. And in a similar manner in the other virtues; by all [of] which it is evident that perfect numbers have a great similitude of the virtues. But they also resemble the virtues on another account; for they are rarely found, as being few, and they are generated in a very constant order. On the contrary, an infinite multitude of superabundant and diminished numbers may be found, nor are they disposed in any orderly series, nor generated from any certain end; and hence they have a great similitude to the vices, which are numerous, inordinate, and indefinite. The essence of the Pythagorean School was that numbers were a perfect representation of anything and everything. Mathematics was pure, unsullied and distinct. In fact, the Pythagorean Dictum is “Number is all.” For those that are interested, there is some knowledge in existence about the Pythagorean systems, but they can be a dizzying round of confusion to the initiate. If you thought math class with its description of odd, even, whole, or fraction were bad; forget Pythagorean Math! (*smile*) It doesn’t take long to get lost in the intricacies of duads, incomposites, incomposite-composites, evenly- even, evenly-odd and oddly-odd, superperfect, deficient and perfect! |
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