Pythagorean Theorem?
Pythagoras didn't do it!
Countless teachers say that he proved the hypotenuse theorem. This claim became widespread because Galileo said it in his famous book of 1632. Yet 340 years later, historian Walter Burkert raised questions about whether any ancient sources show that Pythagoras contributed to geometry. Still, most writers, such as Eli Maor and Leonid Zhumd, continued to credit Pythagoras.
In 2012, I proved that Pythagoras did not contribute to geometry. Ancient Greek commentators on mathematics, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, and Apollonius, did not attribute anything in geometry to Pythagoras. Writers in antiquity did not link the hypotenuse theorem to Pythagoras until half a millennium after he died. The earliest instance I found of anyone claiming that Pythagoras “proved” it is from 1557, two thousand years after he died.
“Triangle Sacrifice to the Gods”
The Cult of Pythagoras: Math and Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), 1-15.
“What Did Pythagoras Do in Astronomy?”
Pythagoras or Christ? Christians Against Pagans from Pythagoras to Giordano Bruno (Saltshadow Castle: Cambridge, April 2022), 9-39.
“An Irrational Murder at Sea”
The Cult of Pythagoras: Math and Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), 16-28.
“Pythagoras or Christ? Choosing a Savior in the 2nd Century”
Pythagoras or Christ? Christians Against Pagans from Pythagoras to Giordano Bruno (Saltshadow Castle: Cambridge, April 2022), 40-120.
“Christians against Pythagoreans”
Pythagoras or Christ? Christians Against Pagans from Pythagoras to Giordano Bruno (Saltshadow Castle: Cambridge, April 2022), 121-151.
“Galileo’s Pythagorean Heresy”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 13-46.
“Pythagoras and Copernicus”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 14-99.
“The Cult of Pythagoras”
The Cult of Pythagoras: Math and Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), 201-216.
“Pythagoras and Other Fictions: Do We Need Them in Math?”
Annual Public Lecture, Math Awareness Month, Mathematics Department, Cornell University, April 13, 2017. http://www.math.cornell.edu/m/Community/mam_lectures.html
“Pythagoras: Myths and Math”
Jefferson Scholars Program, Core Texts and Ideas, UT Austin, October 29, 2015.
“New Book Series: The Cult of Pythagoras: Math and Myths”
Institute of Historical Studies, March 25, 2015.
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BIO
Alberto Martinez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a professor at UT Austin, he investigates the history of science, especially Einstein and relativity theory, history of math, historical myths, and Giordano Bruno and Galileo. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also researches myths in political news media, The Eyes of Texas, and episodes in the history of money and corruption.
Now, he's finishing writing a novel about Albert Einstein.