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Playing with Pythagoras and geometric arithmetic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Charles McNeill
Charles McNeill*
Affiliation:
E2417, Seventh Avenue, Spakane, WA99202, USA
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I just couldn't see it; that was my difficulty with many mathematical abstractions: if I couldn't visually process a maths concept I would resort to rule, hoping that some day it would make sense.

Take the Pythagorean Theorem. It has been around for two millenniums plus, readily understood by all academically exposed to the liberal arts by the time they reach puberty; but me, I knew it, a2 + b2 = c2 and the picture of three little squares huddled around the perimeter of a right triangle, that was no help. Why not three equilateral triangles around the perimeter Of course a2 √3/4 + b2 √3/4 = c2 √3/4 is a bit ungainly, but it would work.

Type
Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 83 , Issue 498 , November 1999 , pp. 446 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1999

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