PYTHAGORAS
Mathematician, Astronomer, Musician

Pythagoras was history’s most famous proponent of numbers. He was born in Syria while his parents, Mnesarchus and Parthenis were there on a journey. His name is taken from the prophetess of the Oracle of Delphi, named Pythasis, who foretold his birth and great life to his parents. As a boy, he was well educated, learning to play the lyre, learning poetry and to recite Homer.

In 536 B.C. at the age of 56 he journeyed to Crotona, the Greek-speaking region of southern Italy, where he established the first university in history - a school combining sacred rites with scientific study.

There he taught the secrets of number vibrations which he discovered during his travels and studies abroad. Since numbers are the foundation and underlying principle of all three courses taught at his school, Mathematics, Music and Astronomy, a great importance was attached to them. The Science of Numbers was considered to be the origin of all things.

Men and women were allowed to apply and become members of his school. In fact several later women “Pythagoreans” became famous philosophers.

Pythagoras believed that greater knowledge of God could be achieved by understanding numbers. In fact, he said the whole universe could be described using numbers, something scientists have confirmed today.

Nowadays we are taught that numbers depict a quantity or an amount. Pythagoras took the meaning of numbers many steps further. He taught numbers to be living vibrations that have a qualitative reality. For example, the difference between cold and heat, solid and fluid, hardness and softness, life and death is only the degree of vibration – and this vibration can be measured.

Having studied in Ancient Egypt for 22 years, Pythagoras knew that their philosophy and spirituality were built almost completely on the Science of Numbers. The Great Pyramid of Giza is a prime example of Ancient Egyptians’ superb understanding of numbers and their powerful vibrations. Thus, he is not the father of numerology, but it was Pythagoras we have to thank for teaching and introducing this ancient science to the Western World. He took numbers seriously enough to apply them to ALL teachings in his school.

Pythagoras considered the triangle to be the origin of everything on Earth. He established his famous theorem on this geometrical figure: “The square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.”

He taught that in order to manifest anything on the physical realm, you had to conceive of it in mathematical form first. A builder can’t build unless he has a blueprint of measurements to go by. A composer can’t write unless she hears musical notes (which can be measured in numbers) in her mind. Pythagoras discovered that vibrating strings produce harmonious tones when the ratio of the string length is a whole number. He realized these ratios could be used with other instruments. His contributions to the mathematical theories of music were phenomenal. He also was known to be an excellent musician. He often used music to help those who were ill.

Mathematicians of today would only recognize some of the ways Pythagoras viewed numbers – such as even and odd numbers, triangular numbers, perfect numbers and so on. However, to Pythagoras, ALL numbers had strong personalities which you would not recognize in mathematics today.

Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD wrote, “I emulate the Pythagoreans who even had a conventional phrase to express what I mean "a figure and a platform, not a figure and a sixpence", by which they implied that the geometry which is deserving of study is that which, at each new theorem, sets up a platform to ascend by, and lifts the soul on high instead of allowing it to go down among the sensible objects and so become subservient to the common needs of this mortal life.”