Having spent considerable time trying to track down the inventor of
pizza, I have narrowed it down to two persons from very different
places and times. In the process of my research, many questions about
the philosophy of history and historiography have been raised.

Here are my basic conclusions:

Now, we all agree on the importance of pizza in the broader sweep of
Human History, but the problem lies in determining who the Inventor of
Pizza was. There are two major theories on this:

1) Pizza was invented by the great Italian explorer Pizzaro, who was
as adventurous in the kitchen as he was on the High Seas. Proponents
of this view maintain that "Pizzaro discovered a New World of culinary
delight which would provide a jump in happiness for all of future
humanity." (Sadly, the place in history of this noble Italian
innovator has been obscured by the greater visibility of his better-
known cousin, the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizaro. The younger
Francisco is said to have dropped one 'z' from the family name for
fear of being regarded as "a mere cook" in the wake of his cousin's
popular and savoury creation.)

2) Pizza was actually invented much earlier by the celebrated ancient
Greek mathematician and mystic Pythagoras. Pythagoras originally
offered three styles of what would much later come to be known as
pizza: one that was octagonal (called a "Pythagoras Eight"), one that
was square (called a "Pythagoras Four"), and one that was circular
(called a "Pythagoras Pi", after the famous mathematical constant that
describes the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference).
Over time, the circular "Pythagoras Pi" became so immensely popular
that the other two versions were discontinued.

As centuries passed, the popularity of Pythagoras's delicious creation
increased. However, just as surely as the passage of time will result
in Greek sculptures having their arms snapped off, over the centuries
the name of this wonderful dish was truncated (as so often happens to
long words): what had been called a "Pythagoras Pi" became a "Pytha
Pi", and the association with its inventor was lost.

Through the filtering of many languages and many centuries, "Pytha Pi"
was ultimately Anglicized into "Pizza Pie", the name by which we know
it today.

So which theory is correct?

Notwithstanding the etymological evidence in favour of the Pythagorean
origin of what we now call "Pizza", and in spite of what appears to be
an authentic reference to the dish's Greek origin by the 9th century
Arabic historian al-Anchovy ("This ambrosia of Hellas is a delight to
both Sultan and Djinn"), I regard Pizzaro as the most likely inventor
(for reasons I shall not elaborate here.)