You may remember our pi symbol video, if you
haven’t watched it yet, click here! We explain
how Archimedes chose pi from perimetros meaning
perimeter when determining the circumference
of a circle. But what Archimedes used pi to
represent wasn’t the constant 3.14159 we
know it as today. Pi, from the greek words
perimetros and peripheros, represented the
circumference of a given circle. But because
the circumference of a circle changes as the
diameter changes, the value of pi was different
for every circle. Other mathematicians such
as William Oughtred in the early 17th century
continued Archimedes’ use of pi when mathematics
began being written in symbols. It wasn’t
until 1706 that William Jones used pi as the
ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
And that is how pi came to represent 3.14159,
the irrational constant we know it as today.
Want to learn more about pi? Click one of our videos below!
