Was Pythagoras Chinese? ? An Examination of Right Triangle Theory in Ancient China : Penn State University : 9780271012384 : 0271012382 : 01 Jan 1977 : The title of this monograph, while intended to intrigue and attract the otherwise unresponsive reader, is not whimsically conceived. Of course, the historical figure of mathematical fame known as Pythagoras, born on the island of Samos in the 6th century B.C., was Greek, not Chinese. But there is another "Pythagoras" equally deserving fame. He is the man who first proved the proposition that "the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse." For hundreds of years this theorem has borne the name of Pythagoras of Samos, but was he really the first person to demonstrate the universal validity of this theorem? The issue is controversial. Seldom are mathematical discoveries the product of a single individual's genius. Often centuries and thousands of miles separate the appearance and the isolat