Q 01/05

On which Greek island was Pythagoras born?

A) Crete

B) Samos

C) Lesbos

D) Rhodes

Answer · why

B) Samos

Herodotus and Isocrates agree he was the son of Mnesarchus, said to be a gem-engraver or wealthy merchant.

Q 02/05

What does the Pythagorean theorem state about a right-angled triangle?

A) The area equals half the base times the height

B) The hypotenuse is twice the shortest side

C) The three angles add up to two right angles

D) The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides

Answer · why

D) The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides

Babylonians and Indians knew and used the relationship centuries before Pythagoras was born.

Q 03/05

In which southern Italian city did Pythagoras found his school around 530 BC?

A) Syracuse

B) Naples

C) Croton

D) Tarentum

Answer · why

C) Croton

Today's Crotone in Calabria was then part of Magna Graecia, the Greek colonies of southern Italy.

Q 04/05

Pythagoras was reputedly the first man to describe himself with which Greek word?

A) Sophos

B) Mathematikos

C) Philosophos

D) Theoros

Answer · why

C) Philosophos

It means 'lover of wisdom'; Augustine later praised his humility in not calling himself a sage.

Q 05/05

Which teaching is most securely identified with Pythagoras himself?

A) Atomism

B) The theorem of right triangles

C) The five regular solids

D) The transmigration of souls

Answer · why

D) The transmigration of souls

Metempsychosis holds that every soul is immortal and enters a new body at death.