Power Search
Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
The Metaphysics of the Pythagorean Theorem: Thales, Pythagoras, Engineering, Diagrams, and the Construction of the Cosmos Out of Right Triangles
Contributor(s): Hahn, Robert (Author)

View larger image

 ISBN: 1438464908     ISBN-13: 9781438464909
Publisher: State University of New York Press
OUR PRICE: $35.10  

Binding Type: Paperback
Published: January 2018
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks

Click for more in this series: Suny Ancient Greek Philosophy
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical
- Mathematics | Geometry - General
- Mathematics | Study & Teaching
Dewey: 182
Series: Suny Ancient Greek Philosophy
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 8.4" W x 10.9" L (1.80 lbs) 300 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.)
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Bringing together geometry and philosophy, this book undertakes a strikingly original study of the origins and significance of the Pythagorean theorem. Thales, whom Aristotle called the first philosopher and who was an older contemporary of Pythagoras, posited the principle of a unity from which all things come, and back into which they return upon dissolution. He held that all appearances are only alterations of this basic unity and there can be no change in the cosmos. Such an account requires some fundamental geometric figure out of which appearances are structured. Robert Hahn argues that Thales came to the conclusion that it was the right triangle: by recombination and repackaging, all alterations can be explained from that figure. This idea is central to what the discovery of the Pythagorean theorem could have meant to Thales and Pythagoras in the sixth century BCE. With more than two hundred illustrations and figures, Hahn provides a series of geometric proofs for this lost narrative, tracing it from Thales to Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans who followed, and then finally to Plato's Timaeus. Uncovering the philosophical motivation behind the discovery of the theorem, Hahn's book will enrich the study of ancient philosophy and mathematics alike.
 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!