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History and Social Context of Mathematics Assignment 1 Introduction Many junior mathematics students would be forgiven for believing that the Greek mathematician Pythagoras (c.580 B.C) invented the concept of the right-angled triangle, such is the delirium that surrounds his theorem concerning squares in year nine. It is interesting to note however that the right-angled triangle has been in use as an aid to construction and considered as a mathematical curiosity since as far back as 2000BC. This paper will consider the development of number and geometry in the societies of the ancient world. We shall examine the part it has played in the Indian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek societies, with a little more information about the Pythagorean School and of course Pythagoras himself. As the subsequent text refers to Pythagoras' Theorem and Pythagorean Triples, they are explained at this stage. Pythagoras' Theorem "In a right angled triangle, the square on the hypotenuse is equal to...

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