That the ratio of the circumference of a forget me drug to its diameter is constant has been known to humanity since ancient time ; yet , even today , despite 2000 class of thought , possibility , calculation and proofs , π ’s precise note value remains baffling .
Ancient Civilizations
Babylonian
By the seventeenth century B.C. , the Babylonians had a comparatively advanced knowledge of mathematics , that they memorialized into complicated table that verbalize squares , fraction , substantial and cube roots , mutual pairs and even algebraical , linear and quadratic equations .
It should come as no surprise , then , that these math whizzes had also discerned an estimate of π at :
This is reasonably good , considering they were matter on their fingers – one theoryfor the ontogeny of Babylonian math , which exercise on a base 60 numeric system , was that they used the 12 metacarpophalangeal joint of the fingerbreadth ( not counting the thumb ) manifold by the five fingers of the other hand . Nifty .
Egyptian
coetaneous with the Babylonians , the Egyptians were also making great strides with mathematics , and are believed to have developed the first full - fledged base 10 number organization .
The oldest grounds of π in Egypt is found in the Rhind Papyrus , which dates from about 1650 B.C. Together with instructions for multiplication and division , and evidence of prize number , fraction and even some linear equations , the Egyptian π was calculated as :
Hebrew
When the Hebrews were building the Temple of Solomon around 950 B.C. , they recorded its specifications , including that of a large brass casting as describe in I Kings 7:23 : “ Then he made the molten sea ; it was made with a circular flange , and measured 10 cubit across , five in height and thirty in circumference . ”
Note that the ratio between the circumference and the diameter is 3 . Not terribly accurate , but also not bad , count they had only emerged from the wild a few centuries before .
Greek
The Greeks greatly progress the field of study of math , and particularly the field of geometry . One of their earliest quest , dating back to at least the 5th century B.C. , was to “ square the roofy ” – create a square with exactly the same area as a circle . Although many tried , none were quite capable to accomplish the feat , although the ground why was not excuse for another 2000 long time .
In any event , by the 3rd century B.C. , Archimedes of Syracuse , the great engineer and inventor , devised the first knowntheoretical calculationof π as :
At this period , Archimedes ’ calculation is around 3.1418 , by far the closest approximation up to this point .
About 400 years later , another Greek , Ptolemy , further refine the estimation of π using the chord of a round with a 360 - sided polygonal shape to receive :
Chinese
Dating back to 2000 B.C. and build on a 10 based , place economic value system , Chinese math were well developed by the third hundred A.D. when Liu Hiu , who also uprise a type of former tophus , make an algorithm to compute π to five correct denary place .
Two - hundred years by and by , Zu Chongzhi calculated to six decimal places , and show the pursual :
Middle Ages
Farsi
Working in the ninth century A.D. , Muhammad Al - Khwarizmi , widely credit with create two of algebra ’s most fundamental methods ( balancing and reducing ) , the borrowing of the Hindu enumeration system ( 1 - 9 , with the plus of a 0 ) and theinspiration for the language algebra and algorithm , is said to have estimate π accurately to four denary places .
Several hundred old age later , in the 15th century A.D. , Jamshid al - Kashiintroduced his Treatise on the Circumference in which he work out 2 π to 16 decimal shoes .
Modern Era
Europeans
From al - Kashi ’s sentence through to the 18th century , maturation refer to pi broadly were limited to grow ever more accurate approximations . About 1600 , Ludolph Van Ceulen calculated it to 35 decimal places , while in 1701 , John Machin , who is credit with creating better method acting for approximate π , was able to produce 100 digits .
In 1768 , Johann Heinrich Lambert prove that pi is an irrational number , meaning it is a real number that can not be write as a quotient of integers ( recall Archimedes ’ deliberation , where π exists between two quotient of whole number , but is n’t defined by one ) .
There was a π quiet again , until finally , in the belated 19th century , two more interesting things go on : in 1873 , William Shanks right calculated pi to 527 seat ( he actually bring forth 707 , but the last 180 were wrong ) , and in 1882 , Carl Louis Ferdinand von Lindemann proved , in Über dice Zahl , thatπ is transcendental , intend :
private eye transcends the power of algebra to display it in its aggregate . It ca n’t be expressed in any finite series of arithmetic or algebraical operations . Using a fix - size font , it ca n’t be written on a piece of paper as big as the universe .
Because he establish pi ’s transcendence , Lindemann also show , once and for all , that there was no style one could “ square the circle . ”
Americans ( well , Hoosiers )
In the 19th century , not everyone continue up on the latest in the world of math . This must have been the example with Indiana amateur mathematician Edwin J. Goodwin . In 1896 , he had so convinced himself that he had , in fact , find a agency to “ square the circle , ” that he talk a spokesperson of the Indiana House into introducing a flyer ( to become a police ) that his value of pi was correct .
Luckily , before the Indiana legislature got too far down that route , a visiting Purdue University professor informed the prestigious consistency that it was unimaginable to square the circle , and , in fact , Goodwin ’s “ proof ” was based on two error , most pertinent to this article , the error that :
Cooler head in the Senate obtain , and the beak was define aside with one Senator observe that , in any event , their legislative powers did not extend to defining mathematical truths .
If you like this clause , you might also enjoy :
The Truth About Einstein and Whether He Failed at Mathematics as a fry
The Horse that Could Do Math : The Unintentional Clever Hans Hoax
“ Math ” vs. “ Maths ” and Why Mathematics has an ‘S ’ on the End
Honey Bees Know the World is Round and Can Calculate Angles
How to Quickly and Easily Tell if a Number is Divisible by 11 , and Other Math Tricks
Bonus Fact :
The numerical volume of a pizza is pizza pie . How does that wreak you say ? Well if izzard = radius of the pizza and a = the height then Π * radius2 * height = Pi * z * ezed * a = Pizza .
icon : Shutterstock / Hayati Kayhan
This posthas been republished with permission fromTodayIFoundOut.com .
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