Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a very inspirational source for Plato and Platonism. Later resurgence of ideas similar to those held by the early Pythagoreans are collected under the term Neopythagoreanism. According to tradition, Pythagoreanism developed at some point into two separate schools of thought, the akousmatikoi ("listeners") and the math matikoi ("learners"). The math matikoi were supposed to have extended and developed the more mathematical and scientific work begun by Pythagoras, while the akousmatikoi focused on the more religious and ritualistic aspects of his teachings. The akousmatikoi claimed that the math matikoi were not genuinely Pythagorean, but followers of the "renegade" Pythagorean Hippasus. The math matikoi, on the other hand, allowed that the akousmatikoi were Pythagorean but felt that they were more representative of Pythagoras.
