Dr. William P. Haas, Sculptor and Former Professor of Humanities at Bryant University


image preview



Around 500 BC Pythagoras discovered that the sum of the squares of two smaller sides of a right triangle was equal to the square of the longest side (the hypotenuse) . This theorem can be proven visually, without using numbers, as demonstrated in the sculpture. Let your mind explore the shapes.

For Pythagoras numbers have shapes: "1" equals a point in space, "2" equals a line, "3" equals a plan, and "4" equals a solid. Numbers also have a time dimension as demonstrated by music, in which the vibrations of sounds can be measured and related to mathematical harmonies.

Thus, geometry is like music in space and music is like geometry in time. The entire universe, for him, obeys the same principles of balance and harmony. When this is understood, one begins to see the mind of the creator of the universe.

This sculpture invites the viewer to contemplate such a possibility.