So, I had a (bad) habit of scribbling on my textbooks, which I always got scolded for. This time the victim was my 5th grade Maths textbook. Chapter, Triangles - appear Right Angled Triangles - definition and standard examples.
I thought of making a design around one of the triangles in the textbook since there was space. I ended up drawing a square around one side like this -
And since, this was now looking unbalanced, I did this -
I measured the lengths of the sides with a ruler, which were 3 cm, 4 cm & 5 cm. And since this was not enough, I divided the big squares into 1 cm small squares.
I counted the small squares and they were 9, 16 & 25, along the three sides respectively. And it hit me if 9 +16 = 25 is merely a happy coincidence? Maybe not.
I extended the sides and drew a bigger triangle around it, which also looked like a right angled triangle.
I found that the sides were 6 cm, 8 cm, & 10 cm. I thought, Wow! If I double or triple the side lengths, I get similar looking Triangles. I drew more squares and counted them. 36, 64, 100.
But, 36 + 64 = 100. WTF!
I concluded -
AB*AB + BC*BC = CA*CA
I thought I had invented a cool formula. I tried it on different triangles but it only worked for the right angled ones. I drew more such triangles, found some in the textbook and tried to apply it. Of course, I was unable to divide most of the big squares into 1 cm ones since they were non-integer lengths. Also some side lengths were too big for this exercise.
I did this for 2 whole days since I was so excited. I back-calculated it on different combinations like (5, 12, 13) or (2.1, 3.5, 4.1). I filled half my notebook with it and confirmed that it was true for all the Right Angled Triangles.
And there it was!
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
I was excited to show this to my Maths teacher. I doubted what if I tell him and he steals it. I wanted to patent it on my name. But still, I took a big chance, prayed Ganesh Ji for success and went running to the teacher’s house and showed him all this.
He smiled at me and said, “You have just invented Pythagoras theorem, my dear!”
I was secretly heartbroken. He patiently told me that Pythagoras invented this more than 2000 years ago. I later read more about Pythagoras, and wondered whether I had invented the theorem if I were born before him. An optimistic kid that I was, for quite some time I believed that I am the reincarnation of Pythagoras.
source:https://www.quora.com/Whats-a-cool-thing-you-%E2%80%98invented%E2%80%99-as-a-kid-only-to-find-it-had-already-been-invented/answer/Krunal-M-Harne
