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Pythagorean Theorem Found On Clay Tablet 1,000 Years Older Than Pythagoras (www.iflscience.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/science@beehaw.org
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A Babylonian tablet from around 1770 BC uses principles of the Pythagorean theorem, suggesting ancient Babylonians discovered it centuries before the famous Greek mathematician Pythagoras for whom it's named.

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[–] 56 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Basically nothing survived the millennia. The fact that so many Greek philosophers are known probably has more to do with the Greek->Roman->Medieval->Modern preservation chain than any special brilliance of the Greeks.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yep. History is written by the victors. And Western textbooks are full of Greek names. But when it comes to Eastern contributions..? Eh, let’s just call it the “Chinese Remainder Theorem”. They don’t get names.

    It paints a real strange picture.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    In France most curricula go one step further and call it "the Chinese theorem". Talk about internalised racism.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Anything not preserved on stone or metal will be lost eventually.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Well, copying extends important things a bit; I don't think there's any original Aristotle copies. It's really easy now, so last time someone asked about future preservation on AskHistorians the experts were pretty positive on the outlook.

    You can buy stone-like optical disks that should last forever once burned, if you want to make a time capsule.

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