The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History (Princeton Science Library Book 65) by Eli Maor (PDF)

Description

An exploration of one of the most celebrated and well-known theorems in mathematicsBy any measure, the Pythagorean theorem is the most famous statement in all of mathematics. In this book, Eli Maor reveals the full story of this ubiquitous geometric theorem. Although attributed to Pythagoras, the theorem was known to the Babylonians more than a thousand years earlier. Pythagoras may have been the first to prove it, but his proof—if indeed he had one—is lost to us. The theorem itself, however, is central to almost every branch of science, pure or applied. Maor brings to life many of the characters that played a role in its history, providing a fascinating backdrop to perhaps our oldest enduring mathematical legacy.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Reading such book it reminds me time when Issac Assimov was manufacturing inteligence. Reading books is easier than write them. On page 142 A case of overuse, NY Times rectangle, on it I was surprised by author either ignorance or lack of visual practice. While he correctly reasoned that without right angle puzzle is difficult to solve, everyone can see that hypoteuse is identical with base of rectangle. And even when we do not know parameters of height it is.. , everyone should know from 5 year of school that area of triangle is 1/2 of area of its rectangle . I see that author is twisting Pythagoras elbows to make some science out of it.But things are perhaps not so over complicated as book presents. Any one can enjoy it in more simple way. I for example use the same model on demonstrating current social – economical bust in local pub. Just look on whole reactangle as available material of our universe , and on triangle as faculty of productive mankind. While marketable ideology shifts point E once to left and next to right the productive cappacity or absorbtion of wealth really does not change, as well as so called growth. Of course somes at upper reaches of distributive structure can get out of picture. I am some times surprised what can be done from recycled knowledge and who has on it copyright.

⭐This book was so worth the purchase! I purchased it for my SNHU (online) class where I had to write a no-less-than-ten-page paper for my Math class, and this book definitely had all the answers that I was supposed to answer for this paper! I love the fact that this little book, helped me get an A+ on my paper and overall in my class! So going to have my brother use it when he has trouble answering the Pythagorean Theorem!

⭐Eli Maor always turns in an excellent effort. I like wide ranging treatment of this one theorem. It’s fun in my opinion and connects some history together for people like myself who do not have an extensive math background.

⭐I loved e: the story of a number, both the story and the mathematics in it. But for some reason this book does not catch the same spirit. It doesn’t have the exciting thread of a story that makes you want to turn to the next page, and the many different proofs make it feel like it’s a patchwork of items forcing itself to support the topic rather than a natural inspiring thread that helps you see the growth in the mathematics. I found it disappointing.

⭐ITEM AS DESCRIBED

⭐I purchased this book for my husband as a gift and he enjoyed the read. It is always difficult to find exactly the correct book for him … and this time I did it! with the help of Amazon.com. Thank you Amazon.com

⭐Great book and delivered timely

⭐XXXXX”To this day, the theorem of [Greek mathematician] Pythagoras [which states that the square of a right-angled triangle’s longest side or hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, written in the language of mathematics as (c^2 = a^2 + b^2) or, more commonly, (a^2 + b^2 = c^2)] remains the most important single theorem in the whole of mathematics. That seems like a bold and extraordinary thing to say, yet it is not extravagant; because what Pythagoras established is a fundamental characterization of the space in which we move, and it is the first time that it is translated to numbers…In fact, the numbers that compose right-angled triangles [called Pythagorean Triples such as (3,4,5), (28, 45, 53) and (65, 72, 97)] have been proposed as messages which we might send out to planets in other star systems a test for the existence of rational life there.”The above quotation is found in this fascinating book authored by history of mathematics professor and author Eli Maor. (Note that the above quotation was not said by Maor.) It catches the importance of this deceptively simple theorem, a theorem children’s writer Lewis Carroll (who was also a mathematician) called “dazzlingly beautiful.”What did I learn from this book? Answer: there’s a lot more to the Pythagorean theorem than (a^2 + b^2 = c^2)!! Maor may be the first author who has examined all the mathematics, history of mathematics, and physics books and collected just the material directly and indirectly related to the Pythagorean theorem.The result is that Maor has brought the long history of the Pythagorean theorem back to life. Sometime around 570 BCE Pythagoras proved (notice I said “proved” and not “discovered”) a theorem about right triangles that made his name immortal. He also pondered the workings of the universe and tried to relate its workings to the laws of musical harmony. In the subsequent centuries, this theorem was used and developed by others such that it has become central to almost every branch of science, pure or applied. After twenty-five centuries, this theorem was expanded and thrust into four-dimensional space-time by Albert Einstein to formulate his own picture of the universe.Yes, there is simple mathematics in this book. To understand it, all you will need is some high school algebra and geometry and a bit of elementary calculus.Do you have to follow the mathematics found in this book? NO. Personally, I found that you could skim, even skip the mathematical parts and still not lose the essential flow of the main narrative. (Actually, the more difficult mathematics is relegated to the book’s appendices.)Throughout the book are diagrams and even some pictures to enhance its main narrative. As well, there are eight pages of colour photographs found near the book’s center.A feature of this book is that it contains “sidebars.” These are brief sections (there are ten) found at the end of some chapters that usually focus on some aspect of the Pythagorean theorem. My two favourites have the following titles: “The Pythagorean Theorem in Art, Poetry, and Prose” and “Four Pythagorean Brainteasers.” You don’t have to read each sidebar.Another feature of this book is its chronology. It more or less summarizes the main events in this book in chronological order. This chronology begins in the year 1800 BCE and ends in the year 1996.Finally, a note on the book’s cover picture (displayed above by Amazon). It shows the detail or “zooming in” of a beautiful larger 1649 picture called “Allegory of Geometry” by artist Laurent de la Hyre (displayed on this book’s inside back flap). The book’s cover picture zooms in on several geometric figures, the one on the top left showing Euclid’s proof of the Pythagorean theorem.In conclusion, this book is essential for anyone that wants to be familiar with the four thousand year history of the Pythagorean theorem. I leave you with some actual lines from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance:””I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,I understand equations, both simple and quadratic,About Binomial Theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’news,With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.”(first published 2007; list of colour plates; preface; prologue; 16 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 215 pages; 8 appendixes; chronology; bibliography; illustrations credits; index)<>XXXXX

⭐This shoudl be compulsory reading for any person interested in maths.

⭐Molto informativo e chiaro

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⭐aber der letzte “Kick” fehlt mir. Verschiedene Beweise werden beschrieben, eine gewisse Geschichte des Satzes und auch die Frage “Wo noch?” wird beantwortet. Aber es fehlt etwas …

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