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Re: The Reason Why Tau Is Fundamental And Why Pi Is Not
Posted:
Jan 5, 2013 8:11 AM
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On Saturday, January 5, 2013 12:06:50 PM UTC+2, tdadamemd-...@excite.com wrote:
> From J.B. Wood:
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> > Hello, and your reasoning is way too philosophical for me. I'm just a
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> > dumb research engineer who uses math to quantify observed results. I
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> > certainly am interested in the properties of particular constants both
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> > mathematical and physical as they describe what we observe in nature. I
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> > really don't care how folks label them, just how these constants are
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> > used in problem solving. My background is primarily electromagnetic
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> > theory (antennas and wave propagation) and I use Pi, e, and sqrt(-1)
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> > quite a bit. Sincerely,
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> > --
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> > J. B. Wood e-mail: arl_123234@hotmail.com
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> When Michael Hartl, author of the Tau Manifesto, gives persuasive arguments for Tau he doesn't stop with mathematical or aesthetic or philosophical reasons, but he even dives into metaphysical and spiritual reasons! The biggest reason he picked the letter Tau is probably because it sounds like Tao. He goes so far as to present the Yin-Yang circle sliced with radian (/Tau) markers.
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> If that doesn't get your juices flowing, there's still plenty of excitement to be had at practical application levels. For the stuff you're into, I expect that you're a fan of phasors and Euler's Formula. I've heard some very smart people say that they are lacking in understanding of what Euler's Formula is saying. But it presents a very simple geometric understanding. What the e and i's are shouting out is that sine and cosine are as geometrically fundamental as the circle!
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> Here's the graphical explanation, in case you hadn't seen this before:
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> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sine_and_Cosine_fundamental_relationship_to_Circle_%28and_Helix%29.gif
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> For engineers and physicists, there's definite potential for confusing Tau with Time, so that's something that needs to be considered.
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> ~ CT
Well, tau also has several other more or less acceptions within mathematics, like being the torsion of a curve (this is, arguably, the most widespread).
After seeing the video I think it wouldn't be that bad an idea to talk _and educate_ more with tau, yet I think this would imply international overall cooperation, particularly from the big mathematics powers (Russia, Europe, USA, perhaps China and Japan)...at least.
I, for one, have not the slightest intention to begin introducing tau without having the slightest chance my students will see that refelcted in books, papers, etc.
Besides all the above, I still think that anyone having SERIOUS understanding and comprehending issues with pi won't make the cut only for being taught about tau instead.
Tonio
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