The Life and Times of Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a man of his time—and for all time. So important to mankind was his birth that the gods sent his birth announcement via the Pythian oracle. Tradition holds that he studied with the greatest minds the ancients had to offer. Pherecydes taught him that the soul is immortal. Thales and Anaximander taught him to trust only what he experienced. He studied with the first recorded scientist. Egyptian priests taught him radical ideas about the human soul. From the Babylonians’ magi, he learned higher mathematics and about the cosmos. He probably had the most well rounded higher education of any other living person of his time, but when most men were done with life, Pythagoras was just making his mark. Around the age of fifty, he founded a school of higher mathematics, philosophy, music, and religion. His lessons still impact our scientific and moral communities today.