The Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans

by Thomas Taylor, Manly P. Hall (Introduction)

Book by Thomas; Manly P. Hall intro. Taylor

Genres: Philosophy, Mathematics, History, Metaphysics

248 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1972

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database

Thomas Taylor was an English translator and Neoplatonist, the first to translate into English the complete works of Aristotle and of Plato, as well as the Orphic fragments. He published prolifically for over 50 years.

Reviews

[Peter J.]

This was an important work in my opinion. Besides being tremendously intriguing when it showed odd patterns that hint at something more to numbers than the mere assemblages of monads, it also clarified some really key concepts that are found not only in Pythagoric, but Platonic, Aristotelian, and Orphic thought.

[Blunt Of Mercia]

This book, though not the sort one would ever read, unless locked away in some tower far from any other forms of entertainment, is the best source on western numerology I have found; and by virtue of that, deserves more than five stars, for it manages not to be absurd, not to be gimmiky or anything the like, but rather to present all the mathematical nonsense invented by the greeks (and other peoples) in such a serious way one could almost believe every word of it.

The book is hard to find but is reprinted by the Thomas Taylor Society (called Prometheus, I think), who reprint his very voluminous works on Platonism. But it is also on Archive, though the scans are annoying to consult.