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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."
"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."
I'm sure that many early cultures were aware of the a^2 +b^2 = c^2 relationship.
What gives Pythagoras the credit is that he proved it.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Did they find ancient carvings that included or alluded to the math involved? Perhaps some rectangular markings that were used for alignment? Someone buy the book and tell us the answer.
Not quite.
A "Pythagorean triangle" is a right-angled triangle where the sides all have integer length. This guy claims to have found some of those, in particular there's a rectangle of stones that mark important sunrise/sunset events and moonrise/moonset events which, when you cut it in half, is Pythagorean.
Which seems odd to me. If the stones are determined by the calendar events, that's the reason why they have those proportions, not Pythagoras' theorem. The builders may have discovered this integer ratio relationship and found it interesting, but I doubt it's the other way around.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
The base of an igloo, which is essentially a circle, follows the formula Circumference = pi * Diameter.
After building several hundred igloos, I am sure an Inuit builder would have empirical knowledge that it takes roughly three times as many steps to go around a circle than it takes to walk the diameter. In this way, the Inuit builder would have a very practical understanding of pi without possibly ever defining pi.
Children may use 3-4-5 triangles in wood shop before ever learning about Pythagoras's Theorem.
Some woodworkers have a very practical understanding of specific right triangles without really thinking the maths through.
I would put the Stonehenge builders in the same lot. Lots of empirical knowledge, but maybe less so on the modern-day mathematical definitions.
No calculations necessary. Pure geometry with simple means.