Modern science is the natural continuation of Pythagorean view of nature based on mathematics,
as commands Pythagoras philosophy. Pythagoras, considering that numbers, symmetries and
harmonies are the first principles of nature, laid the foundations of scientific thought, continuing
the work of Thales. Pythagoras is not just an ancient philosopher, but the first to grasp the deeper
idea that nature is not simply described by mathematics—it is mathematics in itself.
This worldview is expressed in modern physics with the theories of symmetry and the search for
fundamental laws. Just as the Pythagoreans saw in the ratio 1:2 or 2:3 the harmony of the universe,
so physicists today recognize in the symmetries of the fields SU(2), SU(3), U(1) the harmonious
structure of the microcosm. The mathematical equations that govern the universe are the modern
expression of Pythagoras' "music of the spheres". Even the search for the Theory of Everything (a
greek term, Θεωρία Παντός) is nothing more than the attempt to discover the perfect cosmic
agreement, the one and harmonious law that unites everything, as expected in modern physics.
For the Pythagoreans, beauty, simplicity, and symmetry were criteria of truth and beauty. The
same happens in modern science, where the most successful theories are distinguished by their
elegance. The world, therefore, is presented as a mathematical and musical instrument, where
every phenomenon is a note of a universal rhythm. Thus, the Pythagorean idea of numerical
harmony remains alive: nature is number and order, and we, in search of its mathematical essence,
are all Pythagoreans. It is quite normal that Pythagoras was transformed from a philosopher into a
legendary and semi-divine figure already in ancient and late antiquity. Proportions such as 2:1
(octave), 3:2 (fifth), 4:3 (fourth) become metaphors for cosmic relationships. Pythagorean-Platonic
emphasis on number to argue that harmony in music mirrors harmony in the heavens and within
the soul.3
