Contested / Myth (Fact-check)
'Pythagoras learned everything in India'
modern claimPopular overclaimPan-Indian / unspecified
1950Contested-Myth
The claim that Greek mathematics was simply copied from India.
- Dated
- 1950–2025
- As scholars put it
- modern claim
- Originator
- Popular overclaim
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Contested / Myth (Fact-check)
- Evidence
- Contested-Myth
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
What the evidence says
A common overcorrection to Eurocentric history.
The right-triangle relation IS stated in the Sulba Sutras (see Architecture), but sweeping claims of wholesale Greek dependence on India are not supported by evidence. Independent development is the mainstream view.
References
- 1Plofker (2009)
- 2history-of-mathematics scholarship
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-078 on GitHub.