TED-ED: Making sense of irrational numbers - Ganesh Pai

Hippasus, a Pythagorean mathematician, discovered irrational numbers, challenging the belief that all numbers could be expressed as ratios of integers. His proof by contradiction showed that the square root of 2 could not be expressed as a ratio, contradicting Pythagorean beliefs. Despite myths of divine punishment, his discovery revolutionized mathematics. Irrational numbers like root 2 and pi can be precisely plotted on a number line, illustrating that decimals and ratios are just expressions of numbers. Hippasus's work highlights the importance of exploring the impossible in mathematics.

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