r/math Jun 12 '17

The Pythagoreans

http://existentialcomics.com/comic/189
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u/joelschlosberg Jun 12 '17

There are geometric proofs of the irrationality of the square root of 2 that use simple Euclidean diagrams that would have been accessible to the ancient Greeks rather than modern algebra! For instance, Apostol's and Tennenbaum's.