Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe

Description

Pythagoras' influence on the ideas, and therefore on the destiny, of the human race was probably greater than that of any single man before or after him. - Arthur Koestler Einstein said that the most incredible thing about our universe was that it was comprehensible at all. As Kitty Ferguson explains, Pygthagoras had much the same idea - but 2,500 years earlier. Although known by many only for his famous Theorem, in fact the pillars of our scientific tradition - belief that the universe is rational, that there is unity to all things, and that numbers and mathematics are a powerful guide to truth about nature and the cosmos - hark back to the convictions of this legendary scholar. Kitty Ferguson brilliantly evokes the ancient world of Pythagoras, showing how ideas spread in antiquity. She chronicles the incredible influence he and his followers have had on so many extraordinary people in the history of Western thought and science.

Kitty Ferguson was born in San Antonio, Texas. She now divides her time between New South Carolina and Cambridge. An experienced science writer, her previous books include Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything

'Pythagoras' does two things exceptionally well. It provides a magnificent grand tour of the history of mathematics and how it has shaped our understanding of the universe. And it provides deep insight into how the West has manufactured and maintains its Greek roots. This makes it a valuable and inspiring read. -- Ziauddin Sardar, Independent