History of Pi

History of Pi: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg History of Pi Created by Peter Davidson

What Is Pi?: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg What Is Pi? Equal to the number of times a circle’s diameter will fit around the circle Approximately 3,14 Pi goes on for ever Decimals have no pattern and don’t repeat Pi is an irrational number

History of Pi – Early attempts: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg History of Pi – Early attempts 1650 BC – Rhind Papyrus Value of 3,16 probably found by measurement Bible – 1 Kings 7:23 Value of 3 (not very accurate) Archimedes (287 – 212 BC) Calculated between 223 / 71 and 22 / 7

History of Pi – AD (CE): 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg History of Pi – AD (CE) Tsu Ch’ung Chi (430 – 501 AD) 355 / 113 Brahmagupta (640) Value of pi = = 3,1622 Al-Kashi (1430 Calculated pi to 14 decimal places Newton (1665) Calculated pi to 16 decimal places Ferguson (1946) Calculated pi to 620 decimal places

History of Pi - Computers: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg History of Pi - Computers Ferguson (1947) Calculated to 710 places using a desk calulator Kanada & Takashi (Sept 1999) Used a computer to calculate pi to 206158430000 decimal places

Pi and Different Cultures: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg Pi and Different Cultures Earliest discoveries (BCE) and investigations made by Egyptians and Greek mathematicians Between 230 AD and 1430 AD further investigation carried out by Chinese, Indian and Arabic mathematicians - why? More recent discoveries made by Western and Japanese mathematicians

Why is Pi so Fascinating?: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg Why is Pi so Fascinating? Provides an intellectual challenge Because it exists Lead to important discoveries in modern mathematics Can be calculated using sequences of rational numbers Lead to developments in computer technology

References: 

Image © http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-06-30/cowpi.jpg References Johnson, Y., Davidson, P., Jaffer, S., Galant, S. Maths for all Grade 8 . Manzini. Mcmillan Boleswa Witcombe, C. Earth Mysteries: Notes on Pi. Retrieved 31 March 2003 from http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMPi.html O’Connor, J.J. & Robertson, E.F. A history of pi . Retrieved 31 March 2003 from http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Pi_through_the_ages.html O’Connor, J.J. & Robertson, E.F. A chronology of pi. Retrieved 31 March 2003 from http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Pi_chronology.html