History of mathematical notation back to any school or period before that of the Ionian Greeks, but the subsequent history may be divided into periods, the distinctions between which are tolerably well marked. Greek mathematics, which originated with the study of geometry, tended from its commencement to be deductive and scientific. Since the fourth century AD, Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem, a theorem in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle the area of the square on the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of
Special right triangle its sides be in a geometric progression. The 3–4–5 triangle is the unique right triangle (up to scaling) whose sides are in an arithmetic progression. Let be the side length of a regular decagon inscribed in the unit circle, where "φ" is the golden ratio. Let be the side length of a regular hexagon in the unit circle, and let {2}}</math>}} be the side length of a regular pentagon in the unit circle. Then , so these three lengths form the sides of a right triangle. The same triangle forms half of a golden rectangle. It may also be found