Pythagoras wasn't a mathematician.
Pythagoras of Samos ( [ pɪˈθægərəs ] [ paɪˈθægərəs ] [ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος , Pythagóras ho Sámios , Pythagoras the Samos , Samian ] , or simply Πυθαγόρας Πυθαγόρης in Ionian Greek ; ) was an Ionian Greek philosopher , mathematician , and putative founder of the Pythagoreanism movement . He is often revered as a great mathematician and scientist and is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which bears his name . Legend and obfuscation cloud his work , so it is uncertain whether he truly contributed much to mathematics or natural philosophy . Some accounts mention that the philosophy associated with Pythagoras was related to mathematics and that numbers were important .