Pyth

Contributions of Ancient Greece

By Toby D.
  • 3000 BCE

    Start of Math (Mesopotamia)

    Math today is seen as a useless subject taught in school, but math is a way of describing and understanding the world. Math dates all the way back to ancient Babylon in 3000 BC where there was a stone engraved carving where math was used to settle a dispute of land after it was sold off (Pearson 2021).
  • 700 BCE

    The Fundamentals

    The ancient Greeks in approximately 700 BC Started astronomy, science and philosophy. Most of the great minds if they would study astronomy they would also study philosophy and be philosophical thinkers because they were people that sought truth.
  • 570 BCE

    Pythagoras, Egypt and Music (Early Classical Greece)

    With the sought of truth Pythagoras took a trip to Egypt. Here is where he got the thought that everything in life could be described by sound/vibrations but more importantly numbers. While walking past a blacksmith he heard two anvils clanging in harmony and thought music could be described using fractions and discrete ratios. (The scale we use today for music) ( HISTORY 2018). The consequence of this was the modern music scale.
  • 570 BCE

    Pythagoras and Math (Early Classical Greece)

    With his love for math from Egypt, Pythagoras came back to Greece and started a school/cult dedicated to math. Although applied math had been around for thousands of years Pythagoras was the first mathematician who dedicated his life to math and not only applied math, but math to describe the universe. (Hom 2021) Due to his cult like following he was credited with the discovery of the Pythagorean theory even though it was discovered and understood 1000 years before him (Mili 2019).
  • 287 BCE

    Archimedes 1.

    As a result of Pythagoras people started dedicating their lives to math. Due to this great mathematicians are born, One of these people being Archimedes. Archimedes was one of the most dedicated minds in math. It was often said he would go days without eating or caring for his human needs because he was dedicated to math. (Toomer)
  • 287 BCE

    Archimedes 2.

    Archimedes got pi down to 3.14. An advancement in geometry that was not discovered for thousands of years. Archimedes biggest discoveries were those in architecture and engineering. He discovered buoyancy, invented Archimedes screw ( a spiral cylinder used to get water to higher places with a crank) that is still used today in agriculture, and discovered levers and pulleys could lift heavy objects. A consequence of Archimedes is modern engineering. (English 2019)
  • 286 BCE

    Euclid (of Alexandria) 1.

    “The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God” - Euclid. Euclid was a mathematician at the same time as Archimedes. While Archimedes impact was big Euclid's impact was immense. Euclid like most ancient mathematicians was into geometry, but he revolutionized geometry. More precisely revolutionized mathematical proofs.
  • 286

    Euclid (of Alexandria) 2.

    Euclid wrote the greatest math textbook of all time covering many geometrical propositions with extensive undeniable proofs for each. Mathematicians before him would come up with calculations with no proof for them. Euclid's The Elements would impact Sir Issac Newton. (Marinus Taisbak 2022) Euclid book remains the second most published book today after the bible. (2018)

  • Sir Issac Newton

    Greeks greatest philosophers and mathematicians all had an impact on one of if not the greatest minds of all time in Sir Issac Newton. Isaac Newton's famous work Principia Mathematica clearly demonstrates Euclid's influence. And the way mathematical proofs were were written formed the way all mathematicians write proofs including when Newton invented what we now call calculus. Newton also called his famous laws of motion "axioms". A word coined by Euclid. (Grabiner 2016)

  • Current day Math

    Sir Issac Newton's laws and invention of calculus would pave the way to our current understanding of physics and would go on to influence mathematicians and physicists such as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. From a simple stone carving to complex mathematics ancient Greeks such as Pythagoras, Archimedes and Euclid paved the way to our current understanding of math today. The consequence of their work was the complex math we have today.