Abstract
Kasmana:A humorous short story from the author of Mathematically Bent which tells
the true story of the discovery of the Pythagorean Theorem. Well, actually, perhaps
it isn't exactly true...but it is so good, I wish it were!In this story, we see Pythagoras
moping in a bar after a theorem he presented to the Assembly is discovered to be false.
(He had claimed that the radius, circumference and area of a circle would satisfy
x2+y2=z2...but they do not.) With his slave's help, however, he discovers a valid
theorem incorporating the same formula. (Yes, that's right...it has something to do
with triangles.) Now if only Pythagoras would listen to the slave's concern about
the square root of two,...