We cannot be sure about Pythagoras:
"What then was the nature of Pythagoras’ cosmos? The doxographical tradition reports that Pythagoras discovered the sphericity of the earth, the five celestial zones and the identity of the evening and morning star (Diogenes Laertius VIII. 48, Aetius III.14.1, Diogenes Laertius IX. 23). In each case, however, Burkert has shown that these reports seem to be false and the result of the glorification of Pythagoras in the later tradition, since the earliest and most reliable evidence assigns these same discoveries to someone else (1972a, 303 ff.). Thus, Theophrastus, who is the primary basis of the doxographical tradition, says that it was
Parmenides who discovered the sphericity of the earth (Diogenes Laertius VIII. 48). "
Pythagoras (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Yet, the Britannica says otherwise:
"
Pythagoras (
c. 570–
c. 490 bce), for example, argued that the world could be understood on rational principles (“all things are numbers”); that it was made of four elements—earth,
water,
air, and fire; that Earth was a sphere; "
universe | Definition & Facts
