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Re: pi Gets Fixed
Posted:
Jul 7, 1996 3:31 AM
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Cross-posted, at long last, to sci.math. I did remove talk.origins,
however, due to irrelevant subject matter:
Bill Conner <bil@okcforum.osrhe.edu> wrote:
>Jean Luc Deaux (jdoe@domain.org) wrote:
>: bil@okcforum.osrhe.edu (Bill Conner) wrote:
>: > Jean Luc Deaux (jdoe@domain.org) wrote:
>: > : bil@okcforum.osrhe.edu (Bill Conner) wrote:
>: > : > What confounds some is that pi -should- be an integer,
>: > : > having no fractional component whatever, yet the most powerful
>: > : > computational resources available can find no end to the fractional
>: > : > component the formula returns.
>: > : Can you tell us _why_ pi should be an integer?
>: > I like integers better, I don't need a pocket calculator to work with
>: > with them, that's reason enough.
Course, then there's e....and SQRT(2), SQRT(3), SQRT(5)...
>: But in your previous post you said that "pi -should- be an integer".
>: You still haven't offered any reasoning why it "should" be an integer.
>My point is that pi -can- be 3 and, as I demonstrate, it probably -should- be.
Stop right there. You showed that pi -can- be 3 * a Constant.
You showed that the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter
-can- be 3 if we measured diameters and circumferences using different
scales of measurement. That makes the value of pi no less malleable.
> This would be true regardless of
>my personal beliefs, so why are you so concerned about them?
I think he believes your zany way to make PI an integer was
derived from the debate about the Bible suggesting that PI is 3. Of
course, the Bible didn't claim to have any digits of precision beyond
the decimal point, and so there's nothing really wrong with it saying PI
is about 3.
Unfortunately, some people are convinced that this is a serious
problem, and either insist the Bible is fallable, or (slightly harder to
do, and much rarer) try to show that PI equals 3. I never thought I'd
actually see someone try --- I thought it was a joke.
Oh, and incidentally, the circumference and diameter in question
in the Scriptures use the same unit of measurement, which still makes
the ratio of 3 inaccurate, despite your, um...interesting mathematics.
>: Don't get me wrong. People who use science to prove matters of faith
>: are just as idiotic as those who use faith to prove matters of science.
>: It can't be done. Any attempt either way just makes one look foolish
>: and keeps many of us on Usenet quite entertained.
>................................... My point here is that the value
>of pi cannnot be used to prove much of anything; it's all smoke and
>mirrors.
News to me. I guess that makes e and i equally smoke and
mirrors. I should add that not even the Greeks, who were obsessed with
the notion of commensurability, had such an ambitious goal. Of course,
I don't want to discourage you. Rather, go to it! I'm sure the folks
here at sci.math will have a number of engaging questions for you.
,oooooooo8 o ooooo@math.niu.edu --- http://www.math.niu.edu/~caj/
o888' `88 ,888. 888
888 ,8'`88. 888 "I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of
888o. ,oo ,8oooo88. 888 this statement, which, unfortunately, this margin
`888oooo88 o88o o888o 888 is too small to contain. And my F***ING word
____________________8o888'__processor won't let me resize it."_______________
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