Pythagoras

Pythagoras was the giant among the Greek Philosophers. Hi s influence on the modern mathematics, music, cosmology and other sciences is just phenomenal. People have different views and some would disagree with me however I do not know any ancient philosopher having such a huge impact on modern thought. I mean the first Greek philosopher we come across in our lives is Pythagoras. We all learn his famous theorem a^2+ b^2= c^2 that is in any right angled triangle the sum of the squares of two shorter sides is always equal to the square of the longer side.

However it is only one of his accomplishments. The rules of the music he discovered are still relevant today. He was also a theologian and formed his own beliefs about the afterlife. The people of his time had belief that the souls go the underworld after death. Pythagoras on the other hand was a staunch believer of reincarnation. Pythagoras and subsequently his students believed that the universe had been created on the rules and formulas of mathematics and numbers can be used to describe any natural phenomenon.

He believed that number 1 is the supreme number. It symbolizes the uniqueness and singularity of God. Number 2 is God’s creation of the universe as God was one, and manifested in the form of universe. Number three is the composition of one and two and symbolizes the principal or soul in us.

Little can be confirmed about Pythagoras early life. He was born in 600 BC and died around 500 BC. He was the son of rich parents. His father was a wealthy merchant and he left no stone unturned to appoint an army of tutors for his son to get his son the best knowledge available. The tutors had a massive influence on his thought and writings.

Later he travelled extensively to augment his knowledge. It is thought that he went as far as to India to get the knowledge of different fields.