Pythagoras of Samos
... construction of the regular solids known today as the Platonic solids, and the theory of proportionals. The Pythagoreans also developed some important ideas in astronomy. They were the first people to think the earth may be round. Because they were very good at math, geometry in particular, they were able to look at the shadow of the earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse. You know how your shadow looks just like you, only a different size sometimes. The earth’s shadow looks just like the earth.The Pythagoreans also developed some important ideas in astronomy. They were the first people to think the earth may be round. How did they do it? Because they were very good at math, geometry in particular, they were able to look at the shadow of the earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse. You know how your shadow looks just like you, only a different size sometimes. The earth’s shadow looks just like the earth. Once they believed the earth was round, the Pythagoreans used math to develop an idea that the sun and all the other planets were round, too, and that they went ...