Plato, Pythagoreans, and Points

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      From Carl Boyer’s “A History of Mathematics”:

      “The Pythagoreans had defined a point as “unity having position,” but Plato would rather think of it as the beginning of a line. The definition of a line as ‘breadthless length’ seems to have originated in the school of Plato…”

      Later…

      “The role of Plato in the history of mathematics is still bitterly disputed. Some regard him as an exceptionally profound and incisive thinker; others picture him as a mathematical pied piper who lured men away from problems concerning the world’s work and encouraged them in idle speculation.”

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