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
Geometric mean theorem Geometric mean theorem The right triangle altitude theorem or geometric mean theorem is a result in elementary geometry that describes a relation between the lengths of the altitude on the hypotenuse in a right triangle and the two line segments it creates on the hypotenuse. It states that the geometric mean of the two segments equals the altitude. If "h" denotes the altitude in a right triangle and "p" and "q" the segments on the hypotenuse then the theorem can be stated as: or in term of areas: The latter version yields a method to square a rectangle with ruler