Definition:Neo-Pythagoreanism

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Definition

Neo-Pythagoreanism was a school of philosophy which revived the teachings of Pythagoras.

It flourished mainly in the 1st and 2nd centuries C.E.

Its influence on mathematics was to associate the numbers with mystical properties, effectively adding a religious aspect to the subject.

Its influence upon the Western mathematical tradition was considerably greater than it might have been, in part because of the popularity of Nicomachus's Introduction to Arithmetic.