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The Origin Story of Pythagoras and His Cult Followers

The Pythagorean Theorem troubled the devoted followers of the Greek philosopher, who built a worldview based on numbers.

By Avery Hurt
Sep 24, 2022 1:00 PM
Bust of Pythagoras
(Credit: Stefania Valvola/Shutterstock)

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If you remember little else from high school geometry, you probably remember the Pythagorean Theorem: The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Or, to put it in a formula:

(Credit: pedica018/Shutterstock)
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