毕达哥拉斯(前580年～西元前500?年)

Pythagoras

希腊哲学家和数学家。据说出生於萨摩斯岛，後来定居於科罗敦（义大利南部）。在科罗敦他创建了一个教团，拥有一大批坚持他所描绘的生活方式的追随者。他的哲学学派将所有的意义都归结於数字关系，并且认为所有现存的物体根本上说都是由形式而非物质实体组成。毕达哥拉斯主义的原则包括相信永生、灵魂的重生以及节欲和禁欲的解放力量。该主义影响了柏拉图和亚里斯多德的思想，促进了数学和西方理性哲学的发展。毕达哥拉斯最先研究了音乐的音程与音阶之间的比例关系。他还是第一位影响深远的西方素食主义者。他的着作都没有保存下来，而且很难区分是他自己的思想和来自他学生的想法。毕氏定理使人们对他还保有部分的记忆，该定理可能是在他死後由他的学派发展而来的。

English version：

前580年～西元前500?年

Pythagoras

Greek philosopher and mathematician. Probably born in Samos, he settled in Croton (S Italy), where he established a community of followers who adhered to a way of life he prescribed. His school of philosophy reduced all meaning to numerical relationships and proposed that all existing objects are fundamentally composed of form and not material substance. The principles of Pythagoreanism, including belief in the immortality and reincarnation of the soul and in the liberating power of abstinence and asceticism, influenced the thought of Plato and Aristotle and contributed to the development of mathematics and Western rational philosophy. The proportions of musical intervals and scales were first studied by Pythagoras, and he was the first influential Western practitioner of vegetarianism. None of his writings survive, and it is difficult to distinguish the ideas he originated from those of his disciples. His memory is kept alive partly by the Pythagorean theorem, probably developed by his school after he died.