> 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.)
>
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