Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests Serafina Cuomo, John O'Connor and Ian Stewart discuss the ideas and influence of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans.The Ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras is probably best known for the theorem concerning right-angled triangles that bears his name. However, it is not certain that he actually developed this idea; indeed, some scholars have questioned not only his true intellectual achievements, but whether he ever existed. We do know that a group of people who said they were followers of his - the Pythagoreans - emerged around the fifth century BC. Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss what we do and don't know about this legendary figure and his followers, and explore the ideas associated with them. Some Pythagoreans, such as Philolaus and Archytas, were major mathematical figures in their own right. The central Pythagorean idea was that number had the capacity to explain the truths of the world. This was as much a mystical belief as a mathematical one, encompassing numerological notions about the 'character' of specific numbers. Moreover, the Pythagoreans lived in accordance with a bizarre code which dictated everything from what they could eat to how they should wash. Nonetheless, Pythagorean ideas, centred on their theory of number, have had a profound impact on Western science and philosophy, from Plato through astronomers like Copernicus to the present day.Serafina Cuomo is Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck College, University of London; John O'Connor is Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Saint Andrews; Ian Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick.
Transcript
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| 0:47.2 | Hello the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras is probably better known |
| 0:52.2 | than most of his illustrious |
| 0:53.5 | successors over the last 2,500 years. This is thanks in part to the theorem concerning |
| 0:58.8 | right-angled triangles that bears his name. Yet he left no text behind, we know next to nothing about his life, |
| 1:05.5 | some scholars have doubted that he ever existed. We do know that a sect called |
| 1:10.2 | the Pythagorean's emerged in Italy in the 5th century |
| 1:13.4 | BC but they're as well known for their bizarre beliefs as for their |
| 1:16.8 | mathematical innovations. Nonetheless the ideas associated with Pythagoras |
| 1:21.0 | and the Pythagrians have had a deep impact on Western science and philosophy, |
| 1:25.4 | inspiring Plato and Euclid, Copernicus and Newton. |
| 1:28.8 | At the core of this is their belief that the truths that underlie reality can be found through numbers. |
| 1:35.2 | We'd me to discuss Pythagoras and Pythagrians are Serra Pina Cuomo, reader in Roman history |
| 1:40.3 | at Birkbeck College University of London, John O'Connor, Senior Lecture in Mathematics |
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