Unlocking the Secrets: Top 11 Fun Facts About Pythagoras You Never Knew!

1. Triangular Excitement

Despite the fact that his teachings might cause you to go "triangular" with excitement, Pythagoras was a certified hit beyond the realm of geometry: Known for his traveling teacher lifestyle and philosophical musings beyond the Pythagorean theorem, this ancient scholar helped popularize the theorem's knowledge, which was already known in ancient Babylon and Egypt but only gained widespread recognition post-Pythagoras. Today, it's impossible to imagine life without it, as fields from archaeology to engineering rely on that delightful right-angled principle.
Source => web.cs.ucla.edu

2. Strumming the Harmonic Universe

Strike a chord and strum a harp – Pythagoras wasn't quite the musical cult leader we've all imagined: In reality, he and his followers focused on unlocking the universe's secrets through numbers, geometry, and proportion, while living a communal, equal life and believing in metempsychosis for soul purification.
Source => thecollector.com

Discover how Euclid, the ancient mathematical superstar, created the most influential textbook of all time and shaped the principles of geometry that we still follow today. Dive into his fascinating story and uncover the truth behind The Elements! 📐✨

=> Fun Facts about Euclid

3. Vegetarian Reincarnation

Before you spill the beans about being vegetarian, just know that Pythagoras was way ahead of his time, and he definitely wasn't bean counting when it came to the afterlife: This ancient Greek mathematician not only believed in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls but also advocated for a vegetarian diet to purify one's soul and avoid animal reincarnations. Oddly enough, there isn't any solid evidence that he specifically warned his followers against eating beans or that he thought they housed the souls of the dearly departed.
Source => medium.com

4. Sacred Geometry Spirituality

Before you grab your protractor and calculator to summon the spirit of Pythagoras, remember to expect more than just sacred angles and crunchy triangles: Pythagoras believed that geometry was essential for not only understanding the physical world, but also holding spiritual significance, as it allowed individuals to uncover the divine and eternal mysteries of the universe.
Source => mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk

5. Sphere Aesthetics

In a move that could be considered the ancient predecessor to feng shui, Pythagoras declared Earth to be a sphere simply because it was more pleasing to his sense of style: Little did he know that his eye for aesthetic perfection actually managed to preempt scientific truth, long before Aristotle served up the hard evidence with his observations of hull-disappearing ships and a round shadow casting Earth on lunar eclipses.
Source => aps.org

6. Plant-based Feasts & Frowning Beans

Before there was "Soylent Green" or "Beyond Meat," there was Pythagoras, cooking up plant-based feasts for the soul and frowning upon the bean: The Greek mathematician and philosopher was an early advocate for vegetarianism, imposing a meat-free diet on his followers in pursuit of nonviolence and purity, while also forbidding beans in the belief that they contained the souls of the dead.
Source => atlaspythagoras.com

7. Perfect & Amicable Numbers

Hold on to your right angles, geometry fans: Pythagoras, the original "Triangle Guy," had a secret obsession with perfect and amicable numbers, which led to the discovery that all numbers can be expressed as the product of primes, paving the way for modern number theory.
Source => hellenicaworld.com

8. Veggie Commune Life

Before he was known for his triangles, Pythagoras was living his best veggie life in ancient Italy's strictest commune: this mathematical maestro founded the Pythagorean community in Crotona, which practiced vegetarianism, believed in soul-reincarnation, and dabbled in mystical philosophy.
Source => popularmechanics.com

9. DJ Battle of Ancient Times

Before he stormed the math scene with his theorem, Pythagoras conducted an ancient DJ battle with his musical prowess: Pythagoras not only gifted us with geometry but also made significant contributions in musical tuning systems, ultimately developing the Pythagorean tuning system, which was based on the perfect fifth ratio of 3:2 and used by musicians up until the 16th century.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

10. Toga Party with Numbers

In a world where some might say "math is hard," and others that it's the "language of the universe," Pythagoras knew better, casually treating numbers like they were his best friends at a toga party: Contrary to popular belief, Pythagoras was quite proud of his mathematical theorems and attributed them to his own intellect and not to the divine, focusing on numerology and visual representations through geometric shapes, and even believing that the universe itself was composed of harmony and numbers.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

11. Reincarnation TV Show

If Pythagoras was as keen on soul-searching as he was on triangles, he could have landed his own reality TV show: The Ancient Greek Bachelor in Paradise, where our intrepid shapesmith would divine the destiny of human souls post-mortem. Alas, while well-versed in metempsychosis (reincarnation of souls) and founding colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily, there's no solid proof that our protagonist had building cities with geometric and philosophical principles at the top of his five-century BC bucket list.
Source => plato.stanford.edu