

In 1897, an Indiana bill was going to redefine Pi - msvan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill

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pfarrell
I think a possible HN title for this should have been, "Hoosier tried to Hack
Math."

I spent most of my life in Indiana and we used to mock this situation in math
class. Nice to see more of the details on what happened. Reminds me of Ted
"the Internet is a series if tubes" Stevens.

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TallGuyShort
See also, this:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax),
especially the latter half of the "Public Efforts Involving DHMO section".

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JonnieCache
There's a discworld book where some inventor manages to build a machine where
all the cogs and gears were cut with π = 3. This resulted in unwanted time
travel IIRC.

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ctdonath
The bill spends inordinate verbiage denigrating other works, and lauding its
own financial generosity (agreeing to not charge for teaching the technique if
taught in place of alternatives, none of which work anyway).

Substantive content of the bill, near as I can tell:

 _[A] circular area is to the square on a line equal to the quadrant of the
circumference, as the area of an equilateral rectangle is to the square on one
side. ... By taking the quadrant of the circle 's circumference for the linear
unit, we fulfill the requirements of both quadrature and rectification of the
circle's circumference. Furthermore, it has revealed the ratio of the chord
and arc of ninety degrees, which is as seven to eight, and also the ratio of
the diagonal and one side of a square which is as ten to seven, disclosing the
fourth important fact, that the ratio of the diameter and circumference is as
five-fourths to four[ (i.e.: pi = 3.2).]_

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triplesec
Nothing new, but a good reminder of the idiocy of many not blessed with an
education in mathematics, logic or Enlightenment thought. We, HN readers, are
lucky to be so educated, so please let's do our best to bring more into the
fold of fun with numbers. There are people like this still out there!

~~~
tokenadult
Rather than engaging in self-congratulation here, it might be a good idea to
take a look at this part of the article (which was not submitted here with its
actual title on Wikipedia): "Despite that name [the Indiana Pi Bill], the main
result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to
establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π (pi), the ratio of
the circumference of a circle to its diameter." It's not clear to me that
there has been any increase in this era in the percentage of politically
involved persons who even know what "squaring the circle" is, much less who
know the outline of the proof of why squaring the circle with Euclidean tools
is impossible. Indeed, the whole notion of proof seems to be vanishing from
secondary school teaching in geometry, so a bill about a method for squaring
the circle might be even more confusing to voters today than it was then. Back
then and now, it was important to listen patiently to an expert, a
mathematician, to understand the flaw in the bill's proposed solution.

~~~
triplesec
You're being somewhat curmudgeonly here, I believe. There is no self-
congratulation, rather an exhortation to us all to remember how it's still
crucial to be spreading the love and teaching of basic principles of maths.
The fact that this even got close to legislation is remarkable, and wouldn't
have happened with a numerate and educated legislature (even I dare say the
current US Congress, though that may be debatable).

It's a good fable for us, and it can only be constructive to encourage action
upon its lesson, in realising that there are many still who'd rather believe
in magic rather than engage in thought and play with numbers.

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lostlogin
I wonder why this is off limits for governments? Sexual orientation, birth
control, sexual health, religion et al are equally ludicrous areas to
legislate in. The fault is less black and white, but isn't that more reason to
avoid the issues?

~~~
andrewcooke
platonic birth control doesn't mean what you think it does.

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smackfu
There's a good numberphile video on this:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFNjA9LOPsg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFNjA9LOPsg)

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cfesta9
PI IS EXACTLY 3! -Prof. Frink Glavin [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Y-
ua3WBi4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Y-ua3WBi4)

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coldcode
I wonder if we could get someone to submit it to Congress.

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novakinblood
Thankfully Prof. Waldo from my alma mater set things straight. "Naturally, he
listened in. Naturally, he was horrified."

