Posted on 06/20/2018 2:55:37 PM PDT by BBell
Stonehenge builders used Pythagoras' theorem 2,000 years before Greek philosopher was born, say experts
The builders of Britain’s ancient stone circles like Stonehenge were using Pythagoras' theorem 2,000 years before the Greek philosopher was born, experts have claimed.
A new book, Megalith, has re-examined the ancient geometry of Neolithic monuments and concluded they were constructed by sophisticated astronomers who understood lengthy lunar, solar and eclipse cycles and built huge stone calendars using complex geometry
One contributor, megalithic expert Robin Heath has even proposed that there exists a great Pythagorean triangle in the British landscape linking Stonehenge, the site from which the Preseli bluestones were cut in Wales, and Lundy Island, an important prehistoric site.
Pythagoras’ discovery that the sum of the areas of two squares on the sides of two triangle will add up to the area of a square on hypotenuse has been used been used for millennia to help builders attain perfect right-angles.
The new book, published today to coincide with today’s summer solstice, shows how within one of Stonehenge’s earliest incarnations, dating from 2750BC, there lies a rectangle of four Sarsen stones which when split in half diagonally forms a perfect Pythagorean 5:12:13 triangle.
The eight lines which radiate from the rectangle and triangles also perfectly align to important dates in the Neolithic calendar, such as the summer and winter solstices and spring and autumn equinoxes.
They also mark Imbolc, the ancient date for the beginning of Spring on February 1, Beltane, or May Day, lammas, the start of the wheat harvest and Samhain, October 31 which traditionally marked the time when cattle were brought down from summer pastures and slaughtered for the winter which has become Halloween.
Contributor and editor John Matineau, said: “People often think of our ancestors as rough cavemen but they were also sophisticated astronomers.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
There’s nothing new under the sun.
Pie are squared? No. Pie are round.
You don’t have to know Pythagorean geometry to make a perfect square or rectangle.
You just have to be able to measure.
Put a post in the ground.
Tie one end of a length of rope to that post.
Stretch the rope out to its full length.
Walk in perfect circle.
So Pythagoras really was WAY WAY “ahead of his time...”
I’m confused...
Hillary Clinton already proved that something can be named before its namesake is known.
/s
Exactly. They simply observed and measured.
ping
In before the Spinal Tap reference.
“Sum of the areas of two squares on the sides of two triangle will add up to the area of a square on hypotenuse”
I am not familiar with the “area” of the two sides and the “area” of the hypotenuse. Would that depend on how thick of a lead was in a pencil you used? The thicker the line, the greater the area?
Amazing....
Nigel was confused
Most carpenters know this as 3/4/5 rule.
3×3=9
4×4=16
9+16=25=5×5
yeah yeah....
Maybe its just that human brains are wired for certain proportions (as to whats pretty or acceptable) and that its a genetically based preference for “normality” in mates (Socio-Biology 101) A similar study would probably find that such ‘ratios’ are found in what humans consider as ‘beauty’.
Talk about a clumsy definition?
Pythagoras’ discovery that the sum of the areas of two squares on the sides of two triangle will add up to the area of a square on hypotenuseiscovery that the sum of the areas of two squares on the sides of two triangle will add up to the area of a square on hypotenuse...”
My tenth grade teacher:
Pythagoras’ theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Oh, I get the math of the Pythagorean theorem. But the writer was referring to the length of each side as the AREA of that side.
That theorem has nothing to do with calculating the areas of the sides. It really doesn’t.
Both diagonals need to be equal. Use a rope to measure. If one diagonal is longer than the other, rotate the side until they are equal. Then you are square.
Wait... maybe this a common core math!
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