Study math for long enough and you will likely have cursed Pythagoras’s name, or said “praise be to Pythagoras” if you’re a bit of a fan of triangles.

But while Pythagoras was an important historical figure in the development of mathematics, he did not figure out the equation most associated with him (a2 + b2 = c2). In fact, there is an ancient Babylonian tablet (by the catchy name of IM 67118) which uses the Pythagorean theorem to solve the length of a diagonal inside a rectangle. The tablet, likely used for teaching, dates from 1770 BCE – centuries before Pythagoras was born in around 570 BCE.

    • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I haven’t seen a comment like that in years. I bet there’s a whole slew of users (lemmies? What exactly are we called here?) Who have no clue what you’re talking about.

      • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        we’re lemmings. I’ll be the one with the pickaxe, you can be the one with the parachute