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Stonehenge Builders Used Pythagoras' Theorem 2,000 Years Before He Was Born (techtimes.com)

According to a new book entitled "Megalith," which was released on June 21 to coincide with summer solstice, ancient humans who designed Stonehenge followed Pythagoras' theorem 2,000 years before his birth, around 2500 B.C. The theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the other two squares on the triangle. TechTimes reports: [The theorem] was developed by ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras, who was born in 570 B.C. However, Stonehenge was assembled 2,000 years before his birth, around 2500 B.C. This theory suggests that these ancient humans were smarter than what people give them credit for. In order to use Pythagoras' theorem, they had to be really skilled at geometry.

"We think these people didn't have scientific minds but first and foremost they were astronomers and cosmologists," John Matineau, the editor of the book, told the Telegraph. "They were studying long and difficult to understand cycles and they knew about these when they started planning sites like Stonehenge."

7 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Proof? Article contains no additional info. by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 4, Informative

    Erm ignore that, it seems the second link in the summary has an actual article with real content. The first link starts out with 'what is stonehenge"...

  2. Plimpton 322 by LarryRiedel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Pythagorean triple had been in use for a while back in 1800BC

  3. Right angled triangle != Pythagoras Theorem. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Informative
    The link sheds no light. But lots of ancient cultures knew right angled triangles. That does not mean they knew Pythagoras theorem as we know it today.

    I know an ancient Tamil formula that seems to be Pythagoras theorem at the first glance. "Make eight parts of the running length, and discard one part, add to it, half of the altitude. What you get is the hypotenuse". Instantly one notes, there is no quadratic term. It is a linear formula, so it is not a general Pythagoras theorem. It boils down to "when two sides of a right angled triangle is 4 and 3, the hypotenuse is 5".

    Nothing unusual. All they needed was an easy way to construct the right angle. That is all. The simplest way is the make a lasso with a rope ten units long, and mark off 3 feet and 4 feet, you can form a right angled triangle. If you make the rope hundreds of feet long, the angle will be accurate enough for the ancient construction techniques.

    Egyptians had been using the 3-4-5 right angled triangles to demarcate land holdings after Nile floodings 1500 years before Pythagoras.

    For aligning ancient temples, pyramids and other structures with East/West directions, the technique was ridiculously simple. Plant a pole, and mark the tip's shadow location at sunrise on equinox day and again the location at sunset. Line joining these two points is East-West. Use the 3-4-5 triangle from a 10 unit long loop of a rope and mark off North and South. Use plumb bob for vertical. You have a clean three axes Cartesian coordinate axes marked on the ground.

    Dont get me wrong. I am amazed they can identify the equinox and solstice days, that they can predict eclipses, form calendars, They were as intelligent and smart as any modern human being. 5000 years is, but a blink of an eye, in evolutionary time scale. But let us also note that what we mean by Pythogoras theorem today is vastly different what they were using back then.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Right angled triangle != Pythagoras Theorem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The link sheds no light. But lots of ancient cultures knew right angled triangles. That does not mean they knew Pythagoras theorem as we know it today.

      I know an ancient Tamil formula that seems to be Pythagoras theorem at the first glance. "Make eight parts of the running length, and discard one part, add to it, half of the altitude. What you get is the hypotenuse". Instantly one notes, there is no quadratic term. It is a linear formula, so it is not a general Pythagoras theorem. It boils down to "when two sides of a right angled triangle is 4 and 3, the hypotenuse is 5".

      Nothing unusual. All they needed was an easy way to construct the right angle. That is all. The simplest way is the make a lasso with a rope ten units long, and mark off 3 feet and 4 feet, you can form a right angled triangle. If you make the rope hundreds of feet long, the angle will be accurate enough for the ancient construction techniques.

      Egyptians had been using the 3-4-5 right angled triangles to demarcate land holdings after Nile floodings 1500 years before Pythagoras.

      For aligning ancient temples, pyramids and other structures with East/West directions, the technique was ridiculously simple. Plant a pole, and mark the tip's shadow location at sunrise on equinox day and again the location at sunset. Line joining these two points is East-West. Use the 3-4-5 triangle from a 10 unit long loop of a rope and mark off North and South. Use plumb bob for vertical. You have a clean three axes Cartesian coordinate axes marked on the ground.

      Dont get me wrong. I am amazed they can identify the equinox and solstice days, that they can predict eclipses, form calendars, They were as intelligent and smart as any modern human being. 5000 years is, but a blink of an eye, in evolutionary time scale. But let us also note that what we mean by Pythogoras theorem today is vastly different what they were using back then.

      Then there is the table of Pythagorean Triples in Plimpton 322 from 1800 BC. And also Babylonian math exercises on other tablets that give hypotenuse and side of a right triangle and ask for the third side, and solve using the Pythagorean Theorem. There are few who doubt that the Babylonians knew the Pythagorean Theorem.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimpton_322

  4. Re: Down with Pythagoras! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Actually, Ben Franklin supported unicameralism and a single house. He had deep concerns about the Constitution but went along with the compromises.

    But yes, mi is a troll and supplies a great amount of stupidity.

  5. is this new? by e**(i+pi)-1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The new book is by Hugh Newman and Robin Heath. Heath is a teacher of astrology. There is a difference between using the Pythagoras theorem in examples or realizing that there is a theorem. This difference is often confused. The Babylonians also used the theorem in examples. I have not read the book, nor seen any new evidence in the articles about the appearance of the book. There is a book already out since 2013 Duncan Lunan called Megalith. Lunan already mentioned the use of Pythagoras in his book. I would like to see what is the new evidence coming forward in the new book.

  6. Re:Problem: Pythagoras was not the first to prove. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't see any proof of the theorem in there. What is displayed on that page is a special case. Just like Fermat's last theorem was proven in 1995 but that it holds true for the special case of n=4 was proven already by Fermat.

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    Ezekiel 23:20