Little is documented on the early life of Pythagoras. His approximate date of birth was about 569 BC. It is believed he studied under Thales. Unlike the other Greek mathematicians, there are no real accounts of his earlier life. The society which he led was one half religious, and one half scientific. This society led a secret life and held a code of secrecy, which explains why Pythagoras is such a mysterious figure.

Pythagoras is considered a god-like figure with his early life with his early life being documented with much diversity. As a child he traveled widely with his father and was very well educated and learned to play

The Pythagreans regarded numbers as the ultimate parts of real material objects. They stated all objects were made up of or composed of whole numbers or that numbers were the substance of the universe. Numbers to them were like atoms to us. They didn?t distinguish numbers from geometrical dots either. So a number was an extended point or like a very small sphere. They depicted numbers as dots in sand or pebbles; and classified numbers according to the shapes made by the dots or pebbles. For example the numbers 1, 3, 6, and 10 were triangular because the corresponding dots would form a triangle. Also the numbers 1, 4, 9, and 16 were called square numbers because those dots could be arranged in the shape of a square. To pass from square number to the next, Pythagoreans formed what is called a gnomon. Originally in Babylonian times, it probably was just an upright stick, which cast a shadow and helped them tell time. In Pythagoras? time it meant a carpenter?s square. It was the remains from a square when a smaller square was cut out of one corner.

the lyre. He recited poetry written by Homer at a very early age. Among his teachers were three philosophers, which influenced him later in his life. One of the most important was Pherekydes. The other two were Thales and his pupil, Anaxmander, both who lived in Miletus. These two philosophers influenced him in geometry and cosmology.

According to the Pythagoreans a number that equaled the sum of its divisors including 1 but not the number itself was a perfect number such as 6, 28 and 496. Those, which exceeded the sum of the divisors, were known as excessive and those that were less were called defective. Numbers to the Pythagoreans meant only whole numbers. They did not deal with fractions. However Phythagoras and his followers made important contributions to mathematics, even though he offered a bizar

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