On Monday, November 08, 2010 18:00:55 Bruno Wolff III wrote:
> On Monday, November 08, 2010 04:49:33 Tim wrote:
> > On Sat, 2010-11-06 at 17:13 +0100, Klaus-Peter Schrage wrote:
> > > You are probably alle wrong - pi equals 3.125, see:
> > >
http://www.correctpi.com/
> >
> > I was always under the impression that pi was merely the ratio of the
> > circumference to the diameter, something that's easy enough to prove
> > empirically (measure the two, and do the maths).
Just remember that depends on Euclidean Geometry. In other geometries (say
very large circles on the surface of the earth) the ratio is different.
Ok, well, since this thread is already so far off-topic for a Fedora list, it
won't hurt much to add a few more lines... :-)
The pi can actually be defined as a period of the exponential function, exp(z),
in the imaginary direction. This is quite fundamental, and doesn't depend on
any geometry definition whatsoever. Everything else can be considered a
consequence, if you set up your axioms in a convenient way... ;-)
Best, :-)
Marko