Pythagoras of Samos

Born: about 569 BC in Samos, Ionia
Died: about 475 BC

    None of his writing have survived, and little is known of his mathematical accomplishments.  However, it is believed that he led a half-religious/half-scientific society that followed a strict code of secrecy (followers were called mathematikoi).  Pythagoras believed in reincarnation and was thus a vegetarian.  Seemingly a well educated man (by philosophers such as Thales who instilled an interest in mathematics in him), Pythagoras traveled throughout southern Europe between the ages of 20 and 50, where his stop in Egypt made a lasting impression on him.  After his travels, he "settled" in Italy where he established the world's first university: a philosophical and religious school in Croton(e).  This was his Society of which both men and women could participate in the search for principles of mathematics, in the exploration of the concepts of "number" and "triangle" or other mathematical figures, and in the discussion of the abstract idea of a proof.  Some mathematical contributions include his work in even and odd numbers, the idea that the square root of 2 is irrational, and his astronomic and geometric theorems, including the famous Pythagorean Theorem of a right triangle (a^2 + b^2 = c^2).

You can find more about Pythagoras here.

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