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 ...
Utter nonsense. The article shows no proof except the happenstance mapping between distant sites of vastly unequal significance.
“Stonehenge builders used Pythagoras’ theorem 2,000 years before Greek philosopher was born, say experts”
“...and we used Pythagoras’ Theorem, even though we haven’t got a bloody clue who that wanker is...yet.”
C’mon, guys, get with it. Stories like this beg for sarcasm and parody.
Cornbread are square.
How does a megalith expert make a living?
Knowing a ratio of 3-4-5 sides form a triangle with a right angle is not knowing the full scope of the Pythagorean Theorem. That knowledge comes well before accurate measurement with a protractor, compass, and ruler. It’s also more exact than measuring is.
The “area” of the sides is the area of a square with a side of the triangle being a side of that square.
“Stonehenge builders used Pythagoras’ theorem 2,000 years before Greek philosopher was born, experts”
WOW! So from this, using my superior intellect, we can deduce that the Stonehenge builders must have developed the first time machine...traveled to the future...and stolen Pythagoras’s theorem! Shame on them.
How did they know its correct name? ;-D
Are these researchers saying they know the original location of each stone and that’s the basis of their calculations? I’m just asking because the restoration of Stonehenge began in about 1901 and various stones have been moved during the process, along with the height and orientation of the stones changing.
I’ve read that experts marvel that the sides of the Great Pyramid are exact multiples of Pi.
Make a round wheel. Put it on an axle on a stick. Measure distances by counting revolutions (noted my a mark on the edge of the wheel.
Exact multiples of Pi
What I’d like to know how they transported those huge stones ( and I have been to Stonehenge - in 1976 in fact - when one could still walk right up the stones and touch them ) from Wales to Salisbury Plain .
+1
That’s one way of getting out of paying royalties!
The Pythagorean theory was known in special cases long before Pythagoras. He (or his followers attributing it to him) was known for giving the mathematical proof of it in all cases.
To me, the author seems to be confusing an observation and a theorem. A theorem has to be proven, and that is what Pythagoras did.
If I discovered that if I took the diameter of a circle, multiplied by a value that's a tad over 3, I get a value close to the circumference, that doesn't mean I've proven how to calculate pi or even know what pi is -- all it proves is that I'm good at figuring things out.
Yes, observing can be the genesis of starting out the basis of a theorem, but an observation is not a theorem.
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Experts are idiots!
There is no logical nor reasonable path to their assertion. The finished product does not reveal the methods used.
Loon talk. Stonehenge is simply an observatory that freezes a point in time.
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You are correct.
A simple rope with knots in it could have produced the results.
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