PI

The value of Pi has a great value in our scientific life, the importance of that
value was gained through the ages. The fact that the ratio of the circumference
to the diameter of a circle is constant has been known for so long that it is quite
umtraceable. The first value of Pi, including the Biblical value of 3, were
almost certainly found by measurement. It was also found that the Egyptians

took to be a value for Pi.

The first theoretical calculation have been carried out by Archimedes (287-212
BC), he obtained the approximation: 223/71< Pi <22/7. Various people also
computed Pi including:

o Ptolemy (150 AD) => 3.1416

o Tsu Chung Chi (430-501 AD) => 355/113
o Al Khawarizmi (800) => 3.1416
o Al Kashi (1430) => computed Pi to 14 places
o Viète (1540- 1603) => 9 places
o Romanus (1561-1615) => 17 places
o Van Ceulen (1600) => 35 places

The European Renaissance brought with it a whole new mathematical world.

As an effect emerged the first mathematical formulae for Pi. The only difficulty
in computing Pi was and still is the sheer boredom of continuing the
calculation. mathematicians devoted vast amount of time and effort to this
pursuit. One of these mathematicians, called Shanks, calculated Pi to 707
places in 1873. Soon after his calculations, another mathematician called De
Morgan found that Shanks had made an error in the 528th place, after which all
his digits were wrong! In 1949, a computer was used to calculate Pi to 2000
places.

Finally, we just want to mention how the notation of Pi arose. In 1647,

Oughtred used the symbol (d/Pi) for the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its
circumference. In 1697, David Gregory used (Pi/r) for the ratio of the
circumference of a circle to its radius. The first to use with its present meaning
was an Welsh mathematician William Jones in 1706 when he states 3.14159
andc. = Pi. Euler adopted the symbol in 1737 and it quickly became a standard
notation.
π (sometimes written pi) is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any
circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; this is the same value as the
ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius. It is approximately equal to 3.141593 in
the usual decimal notation. Many formulae from mathematics, science, and engineering
involve π, which is one of the most important mathematical and physical constants.
Unlike many physical constants, pi is a dimensionless quantity, meaning that it is simply
a number without physical units.

π is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a
fraction m/n, where m and n are integers. Consequently, its decimal representation never
ends or repeats. It is also a transcendental number, which implies, among other things,
that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) can
be equal to its value; proving this was a late achievement in mathematical history and a
significant result of 19th century German mathematics. Throughout the history of
mathematics, there has been much effort to determine π more accurately and to
understand its nature; fascination with the number has even carried over into non-
mathematical culture.

Probably because of the simplicity of its definition, the concept of π has become
entrenched in popular culture to a degree far greater than almost any other mathematical
construct.[1] It is, perhaps, the most common ground between mathematicians and non-
mathematicians.[2] Reports on the latest, most-precise calculation of π (and related stunts)
are common news items.[3][4][5]

The Greek letter π, often spelled out pi in text, was first adopted for the number as an
abbreviation of the Greek word for perimeter "περίμετρος" (or as an abbreviation for
"perimeter/diameter") by William Jones in 1707. The constant is also known as
Archimedes' Constant, after Archimedes of Syracuse, although this name is uncommon in
modern English-speaking contexts.

The name of the Greek letter π is pi.[6] The name pi is commonly used as an alternative to
using the Greek letter. As a mathematical symbol, the Greek letter is not capitalized (Π)
even at the beginning of a sentence, and instead the lower case (π) is used at the
beginning of a sentence. When referring to this constant, the symbol π is always
pronounced "pie" in English, which is the conventional English pronunciation of the
Greek letter. The constant is named "π" because "π" is the first letter of the Greek word
περίμετρος (perimeter), probably referring to its use in the formula perimeter/diameter
which is constant for all circles, the word "perimeter" being synonymous here with
"circumference."[7] William Jones was the first to use the Greek letter in this way, in
1707,[8] and it was later popularized by Leonhard Euler in 1737.[9][10] William Jones wrote:

There are various other ways of finding the Lengths or Areas of particular Curve Lines,
or Planes, which may very much facilitate the Practice; as for instance, in the Circle, the
Diameter is to the Circumference as 1 to ... 3.14159, &c. = π[11]
The capital letter pi (Π) has a completely different mathematical meaning; it is used for
expressing products (notice that the word "product" begins with the letter "p" just like
"perimeter/diameter" does).

Geometric definition

In Euclidean plane geometry, π is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its

diameter d:[7]

The ratio C/d is constant, regardless of a circle's size. For example, if a circle has twice
the diameter d of another circle it will also have twice the circumference C, preserving
the ratio C/d.

Alternatively π can be defined as the ratio of a circle's area A to the area of a square
whose side is equal to the radius r of the circle:[7][12]

These definitions depend on results of Euclidean geometry, such as the fact that all
circles are similar, and the fact that the right-hand-sides of these two equations are equal
to each other (i.e. the area of a disk is Cr/2). These two geometric definitions can be
considered a problem when π occurs in areas of mathematics that otherwise do not
involve geometry. For this reason, mathematicians often prefer to define π without
reference to geometry, instead selecting one of its analytic properties as a definition. A
common choice is to define π as twice the smallest positive x for which the trigonometric
function cos(x) equals zero.[13]

HISTORY

The earliest evidenced conscious use of an accurate approximation for the length of a
circumference with respect to its radius is of 3 + 1/7 in the designs of the Old Kingdom
pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid at Giza, constructed c.2550-2500 BC, was built
with a perimeter of 1760 cubits and a height of 280 cubits; the ratio 1760/280 ≈ 2π.
Egyptologists such as Professors Flinders Petrie[35] and I.E.S Edwards[36] have shown that
these circular proportions were deliberately chosen for symbolic reasons by the Old
Kingdom scribes and architects.[37][38] The same apotropaic proportions were used earlier
at the Pyramid of Meidum c.2600 BC. This application is archaeologically evidenced,
whereas textual evidence does not survive from this early period.

The early history of π from textual sources roughly parallels the development of
mathematics as a whole.[39] Some authors divide progress into three periods: the ancient
period during which π was studied geometrically, the classical era following the
development of calculus in Europe around the 17th century, and the age of digital
computers.[40]
Antiquity

The earliest known textually evidenced approximations date from around 1900 BC; they
are 256/81 (Egypt) and 25/8 (Babylonia), both within 1% of the true value.[7] The Indian
text Shatapatha Brahmana gives π as 339/108 ≈ 3.139. Additionally, the Old Testament
discusses a ceremonial pool in the temple of King Solomon, having a diameter of ten
cubits, and a circumference of thirty cubits, implying an approximate value of three for
pi;[41][28] though perhaps King Solomon knew better.

Archimedes used the method of exhaustion to approximate the value of π.

Archimedes (287–212 BC) was the first to estimate π rigorously. He realized that its
magnitude can be bounded from below and above by inscribing circles in regular
polygons and calculating the outer and inner polygons' respective perimeters:[28] By using
the equivalent of 96-sided polygons, he proved that 310/71 < π < 31/7.[28] The average of
these values is about 3.14185.

Ptolemy, in his Almagest, gives a value of 3.1416, which he may have obtained from
Apollonius of Perga.[42]

Around AD 265, the Wei Kingdom mathematician Liu Hui provided a simple and
rigorous iterative algorithm to calculate π to any degree of accuracy. He himself carried
through the calculation to a 3072-gon (i.e. a 3072-sided polygon) and obtained an
approximate value for π of 3.1416.[43] Later, Liu Hui invented a quick method of
calculating π and obtained an approximate value of 3.14 with only a 96-gon,[43] by taking
advantage of the fact that the difference in area of successive polygons forms a geometric
series with a factor of 4.

Around 480, the Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi demonstrated that π ≈ 355/113,

and showed that 3.1415926 < π < 3.1415927[43] using Liu Hui's algorithm applied to a
12288-gon. This value would remain the most accurate approximation of π available for
the next 900 years.
Maimonides mentions with certainty the irrationality of π in the 12th century.[44] This was
proved in 1768 by Johann Heinrich Lambert.[45] In the 20th century, proofs were found
that require no prerequisite knowledge beyond integral calculus. One of those, due to
Ivan Niven, is widely known.[46][47] A somewhat earlier similar proof is by Mary
Cartwright.[48]

Second Millennium AD

Liu Hui's π algorithm

Archimedes' π algorithm

Until the second millennium AD, estimations of π were accurate to fewer than 10 decimal
digits. The next major advances in the study of π came with the development of infinite
series and subsequently with the discovery of calculus, which permit the estimation of π
to any desired accuracy by considering sufficiently many terms of a relevant series.
Around 1400, Madhava of Sangamagrama found the first known such series:

This is now known as the Madhava–Leibniz series[49][50] or Gregory-Leibniz series since it

was rediscovered by James Gregory and Gottfried Leibniz in the 17th century.
Unfortunately, the rate of convergence is too slow to calculate many digits in practice;
about 4,000 terms must be summed to improve upon Archimedes' estimate. However, by
transforming the series into

Madhava was able to estimate π as 3.14159265359, which is correct to 11 decimal places.

The record was beaten in 1424 by the Persian mathematician, Jamshīd al-Kāshī, who
gave an estimate π that is correct to 16 decimal digits.

The first major European contribution since Archimedes was made by the German
mathematician Ludolph van Ceulen (1540–1610), who used a geometric method to give
an estimate of π that is correct to 35 decimal digits. He was so proud of the calculation,
which required the greater part of his life, that he had the digits engraved into his
tombstone.[51] Pi is sometimes called "Ludolph's Constant" though not as often as it is
called "Archimedes' Constant."[52]

Around the same time, the methods of calculus and determination of infinite series and
products for geometrical quantities began to emerge in Europe. The first such
representation was the Viète's formula,

found by François Viète in 1593. Another famous result is Wallis' product,

by John Wallis in 1655. Isaac Newton himself derived a series for π and calculated 15
digits, although he later confessed: "I am ashamed to tell you to how many figures I
carried these computations, having no other business at the time."[53]

In 1706 John Machin was the first to compute 100 decimals of π, using the inverse
trigonometric function arctan in the formula

with

Formulas of this type, now known as Machin-like formulas, were used to set several
successive records and remained the best known method for calculating π well into the
age of computers. A remarkable record was set by the calculating prodigy Zacharias
Dase, who in 1844 employed a Machin-like formula to calculate 200 decimals of π in his
head at the behest of Gauss. The best value at the end of the 19th century was due to
William Shanks, who took 15 years to calculate π with 707 digits, although due to a
mistake only the first 527 were correct. (To avoid such errors, modern record calculations
of any kind are often performed twice, with two different formulas. If the results are the
same, they are likely to be correct.)

Theoretical advances in the 18th century led to insights about π's nature that could not be
achieved through numerical calculation alone. Johann Heinrich Lambert proved the
irrationality of π in 1761, and Adrien-Marie Legendre also proved in 1794 π2 to be
irrational. When Leonhard Euler in 1735 solved the famous Basel problem, finding the
exact value of the Riemann zeta function of 2,

which is π2/6, he established a deep connection between π and the prime numbers. Both
Legendre and Euler speculated that π might be transcendental, which was finally proved
in 1882 by Ferdinand von Lindemann.

Computation in the computer age

Computers are used not only to calculate digits of π, but also to demonstrate the concept
through animation.

Although practically a physicist needs only 39 digits of Pi to make a circle the size of the
observable universe accurate to one atom of hydrogen, the number itself as a
mathematical curiosity has created many challenges in different fields.

The advent of digital computers in the 20th century led to an increased rate of new π
calculation records. John von Neumann et al. used ENIAC to compute 2037 digits of π in
1949, a calculation that took 70 hours.[54][55] Additional thousands of decimal places were
obtained in the following decades, with the million-digit milestone passed in 1973.
Progress was not only due to faster hardware, but also new algorithms. One of the most
significant developments was the discovery of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) in the
1960s, which allows computers to perform arithmetic on extremely large numbers
quickly.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan
found many new formulas for π, some remarkable for their elegance, mathematical depth
and rapid convergence.[56]

Geomorphology and chaos theory

Under ideal conditions (uniform gentle slope on an homogeneously erodible substrate),

the ratio between the actual length of a river and its straight-line from source to mouth
length tends to approach π.[97] Albert Einstein was the first to suggest that rivers have a
tendency towards an ever more loopy path because the slightest curve will lead to faster
currents on the outer side, which in turn will result in more erosion and a sharper bend.
The sharper the bend, the faster the currents on the outer edge, the more the erosion, the
more the river will twist and so on. However, increasing loopiness will result in rivers
doubling back on themselves and effectively short-circuiting, creating an ox-bow lake.
The balance between these two opposing factors leads to an average ratio of π between
the actual length and the direct distance between source and mouth.[98]

Nobel prize winning poet Wisława Szymborska wrote a poem about π, and here is an
excerpt:[99]

The caravan of digits that is pi

does not stop at the edge of the page,
but runs off the table and into the air,
over the wall, a leaf, a bird's nest, the clouds, straight into the sky,
through all the bloatedness and bottomlessness.
Oh how short, all but mouse-like is the comet's tail!

Many schools around the world observe Pi Day (March 14, from 3.14).[100] At least one
cheer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology includes "3.14159!"[101]

On November 7, 2005, alternative musician Kate Bush released the album Aerial. The
album contains the song "π" whose lyrics consist principally of Bush singing the digits of
π to music, beginning with "3.14".[102]

In Carl Sagan's novel Contact, π played a key role in the story. The novel suggested that
there was a message buried deep within the digits of π placed there by whoever created
the universe. This part of the story was omitted from the film adaptation of the novel.

Darren Aronofsky's film Pi deals with a number theorist.