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Geek Thoughts: pi gone wild

Pi, an irrational number, cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction of integers (and all real-world length units are ultimately based on integers). So either pi is not a circle’s ratio of circumference to diameter, or circles don’t exist (or both!)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm and is filed under geekthoughts.

3 Responses to “Geek Thoughts: pi gone wild”

  1. SymbolismLost

    December 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    The symbol “Pi” is always the ratio of circumference to diameter by definition. Your projection of “Pi” into a floating point number of arbitrary precision is the issue that invalidates your blurb. Solve your equations symbolically when handling irrational numbers, and you’ll be fine, don’t worry.

  2. M. David Peterson http://xmlhacker.com/

    December 5th, 2008 at 1:16 am

    And thus you’ve proven why digital computers can never understand the analog-based world in which mathematics exists.

  3. SymbolismLost

    December 5th, 2008 at 10:17 am

    Analog is a myth; the world is digital. We just haven’t found the extent of its mantissa.