The Pythagorean Theorem - Educational Outreach

2) Four Thousand Years of DiscoveryConsider old Pythagoras,A Greek of long ago,And all that he did give to us,Three sides whose squares now showIn houses, fields and highways straight;In buildings standing tall;In mighty planes that leave the gate;And, micro-systems small.Yes, all because he got it rightWhen angles equal ninety—One geek (BC), his plain delight—One world changed aplenty! January 20022.1) Pythagoras and the First ProofPythagoras was not the first in antiquity to knowabout the remarkable theorem that bears his name, but hewas the first to formally prove it using deductive geometryand the first to actively ‘market’ it (using today’s terms)throughout the ancient world. One of the earliest indicatorsshowing knowledge of the relationship between righttriangles and side lengths is a hieroglyphic-style picture,Figure 2.1, of a knotted rope having twelve equally-spacedknots.Figure 2.1: Egyptian Knotted Rope, Circa 2000 BCE27