He was strongly influenced by Aristotle and is best known for his works "Introduction to Arithmetic" (Arithmetike eisagoge) and "The Manual of Harmonics" in Greek. He was a Pythagorean. In "Introduction to Arithmetic", Nicomachus writes extensively on number, especially on the significance of prime numbers and perfect numbers and argues that arithmetic is the starting point that makes it possible to do the other mathematical sciences: geometry, music, and astronomy.