Discovery of Pi
Asa : What are we looking at?
Casa : We are looking for who discovered Pi!
Asa : Apple Pie in Pyramids?
Casa : No silly.
The mathematical consonant Pi.
It is the ratio of a circle's circumference
to its diameter, commonly approximated as
3.14.
Asa : Ooh.
That ‘Pi’.
But if it is a Math symbol, wouldn’t it
be a mathematician who came up with it?
Casa : The Great Pyramid of Giza that you
see here was built between 2550 and 2500 BC
and these pyramids’ perimeter give a ratio
which is approximately 2 times Pi!
Asa: You mean Egyptians discovered the Pi..?!
Casa: Well, The earliest textual evidence
of Pi dates back to 1900 BC; both the Babylonians
and the Egyptians had a rough idea of the
value.
The Babylonians estimated Pi to about 3.125,
while the Egyptians estimated it to be about
roughly 3.16.
Asa : Make up your mind, Casa.
Which time period do you really want to travel
now?
Casa : Hey, I know which one.
Casa : The Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes
is largely considered to be the first to discover
the primitive approach to determine Pi, before
calculus was even invented.
Asa: How did he do that?
Casa: He didn’t calculate the exact value
of Pi, but rather came up with very close
approximation!
He used 96-sided polygons to come up with
a value that fell between 3.1408 and 3.14285.
Now, there were many who later kept calculating
the Pi’s decimal digits to more accuracy
but it was Archimedes who is considered to
be the first to come up with such a close
estimation.
Asa: That is so cool for an old timer.
