Pythagorean Theorem The Pythagorean Theorem is used to show the relationship among the three sides of a right triangle. In simple terms the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Since the fourth century AD, Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for creating the Pythagorean Theorem. The theorem dates back to Pythagorean triples found on Megalithic monuments from circa 2500 in Egypt and northern Europe incorporating right triangles with integer sides. The Middle Kingdom Egyptian papyrus Berlin 6619, written between 2000 and 1786 BC, includes a problem whose solution was a Pythagorean triple. Even though the theorem had been previously utilized by the Babylonians and Indians and no evidence shows that Pythagoras worked on or proved this theorem, he and his students are credited for constructing the first proof. Pythagoras was born between 580 and 572 BC on the island Samos of the coast of Greece. As a young man Pythagoras was advised to head to Memphis in Egypt to study with priests who were renowned for their wisdom. It may have been in Egypt that Pythagoras learned geometric principles that fueled the theorem named after him. Pythagoras later migrated to Croton, Calabria, Italy and established a secret religious cult very similar to the earlier Orphic cult. Toward the end of his life, Pythagoras fled Croton because of a plot against him and his followers, Pythagoreans, by a noble of Croton named Cylon. Pythagoras died in Metapontum between 500 and 490 BC around ninety years old from unknown causes. His studies and part in the Pythagorean Theorem influenced many later philosophers including Plato and Aristotle. Plato and Aristotle both concurred that Pythagoras was to be set apart form the so-called Pythagoreans and that he was a founder of a way of life, referring to the cult