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Modern Euclid editions attribute a right-triangle theorem to a Pythagorean heading that is later

School Euclid (Perseus/Clay) and Britannica’s theorem article teach ‘Pythagoras’s theorem’ as a name. Teaching a later Euclidean proof as his autograph is a knowledge-harm: a swollen heading. In the causal graph this event weakens Digital Learning Access, a driver that weakens Learning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries) — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

School Euclid (Perseus/Clay) and Britannica’s theorem article teach ‘Pythagoras’s theorem’ as a name. Teaching a later Euclidean proof as his autograph is a knowledge-harm: a swollen heading.

Context

The proof-as-access is an improving row. This stores the false-precision of the name.

Pythagoras is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A school theorem-name is not a 6th-century proof on papyrus.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Pythagoras

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.26 · verified

    Named sage as heading of later school reports. Iamblichus, Euclid’s editors, and later math teachers publish the instrument.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Perseus — Euclid, ElementsPerseus Digital Library / Tufts · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — Pythagorean theoremEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorPythagoras
  2. contributed toFactModern Euclid editions attribute a right-triangle theorem to a Pythagorean heading that is later
  3. weakensDriverDigital Learning Access
  4. weakensIndicatorLearning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Modern Euclid editions attribute a right-triangle theorem to a Pythagorean heading that is later. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/py-theorem-euclid-not-autograph

https://factrail.ai/facts/py-theorem-euclid-not-autograph

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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