Saturday, July 2, 2022

Only Greeks had the Pythorean Theorem

From the Wikipedia List of common misconceptions
The Greek philosopher Pythagoras was not the first to discover the equation expressed in the Pythagorean theorem, as it was known and used by the Babylonians and Indians centuries before him.[641][642][643][644] He may have been the first to introduce it to the Greeks;[645][643] the first record of it being mathematically proved as a theorem is in Euclid's elements which was published some 200 years after Pythagoras, so he could have been the first to prove the theorem.
I don't think that there is a misconception here.

The Pythagorean theorem is named after Pythagoras, but he was a Greek who lived 2500 years ago, and no one know what he exactly did.

Ancient Babylonians and Indians had examples of right triangles with a2+b2=c2, but they did not have the theorem. As far as we know, only the Greeks invented mathematical proofs.

Babylon and India were doing arithmetic. Greece was doing real mathematics.

Speaking of math, Numberphile has a new video on 10272,000 universes in string theory, more than previously announced. In the middle it casually mentions that they all have negative energy, and are therefore unphysical. Ultimately this is what string theory will be famous for.

3 comments:

  1. I think I've had enough of them.

    First, they said, with the typical freaking (fucking, actually) physicists' arrogance!:
    15th May.
    Then, 17th May.
    Thanks Gods, I said.

    Then I talked. On 10th June. Yellow, Red, White. Times of India's Vineet Jain knew it all. (We won Freedom in 2014, haven't you been keeping in the tune with the times?)

    Then, 30th June.
    I did submit.

    Then, when I checked later, 4th July.
    Then, 6th July.
    Then, 7th July.

    Today, these *bastards* say: 8th July.

    I've had enough.
    I will wait a few days.
    Else, I will have a way to publish my "pamphlet" i.e. paper, nevertheless.

    --Best,
    Pamphleteer Ajit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK, I did get carried away a bit by the frustration and so ended up using a bad word. I regret it, and would not hesitate offering apologies for it. However, at the same time, it also is quite obvious that such things --- indefinite extensions in the paper submission stage, 2--3 weeks *after* the conference is over, and without letting authors know in any form --- is not the practice in science. Realize, the paper review will *begin* *after* the extensions in paper submissions come to an end. I was not commenting on paper reviews, or the proverbial Reviewer 2; I was commenting on the mechanics of it all. Normally, you submit a paper, give presentation, and respond to reviewer comments immediately before or after the presentation, and are done with it within a week of the conference. In that context, any frustration like mine is abundantly well justified, even though using bad words should be avoided, else the level of the discourse slips down. So, my willingness to apologize.

      Best,
      --Pamphleteer Ajit

      Delete
  2. I *know* there are two Jain sons of *Indu* Jain. I *have* fought with Indu Jain. I don't regret it, whenever the end comes. [I did say RIP to Dileep Padgaonkar, though.]

    Bloody third-class Brahmins!

    [Yes, Roger, Atanu, Scott, I *sure* will take both these comments to my blog. Most unfortunately, despite Satyaa Idiot, and Bill Idiot, and Bill Idiot, such things have to be posted to blogs. Or, may be, because of them.

    If I *don't* post this post and the above at my own blog, or at least at my HDD (because all WordPress blogs are, ultimately, *American*-owned), do hold me to the line.

    Mechanics of the postings aside, you don't think I am not going to post this, whatever, to my blog, do you?

    Best,
    --Pamphleteer Ajit

    ReplyDelete