Some of you have probably learnt the Pythagoras theorem in geometry. It states that the sum of the squares of the two sides of a right angled triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. Well, this was discovered by the renowned mathematician and philosopher- Pythagoras.
Pythagoras was born in 580 BC in Somos, Greece. It is known that he left Somos in about 520 BC to settle in Croto ( now Crotone) in Southern Italy. Then, due to political trouble he moved on to Metapontum, where he died in 500 BC. Croton, Pythagoras established his academy, and became a cult teacher.
Pythagoras and his followers were important for there contribution to religion and science. His religious teachings were based on the doctrine of metempsychosis which held that the soul wasimmoral or did not die, and was destined for a cycle of rebirth. Pythagoreans were also famous for their ides of cosmology, where they held that the earth was a sphere which circled the center of the Universe. The center of this system was of fire, invisible to Man because his side of the Earth was turned from it.
