Indiana House Bill #246 was introduced on 18 January 1897, and
referred to the Committee on Canals "midst general cheerfulness."
The text states, "the ratio of the diameter and circumference is
as five-fourths to four", which makes pi 3.2 (not 3), but there
are internal contradictions in the bill as well as contradictions
with reality. The author was a mathematical crank. The bill was
passed by the state House on 5 February, but indefinitely tabled
by the state Senate, in part thanks to the fortuitous presence
on other business of a Purdue professor of mathematics.
For details, including an annotated text of the bill, read the
article by D. Singmaster in "The Mathematical Intelligencer" v7
#2, pp 69-72.
So does anyone know pi to the nearest whole number? Seems like the bible was not too bad on this one. I think a reasonable degree of accuracy should be applauded.
Originally posted by deriver69 So does anyone know pi to the nearest whole number? Seems like the bible was not too bad on this one. I think a reasonable degree of accuracy should be applauded.
The figure that was presumably rounded was the 30 cubits (which should have been 31.4, or possibly the 5 cubits which might have been around 4.8
It would have been shocking if the bible had quoted the distance to 100 decimal places. But I hardly think the quoted figures deserve applaud either.
Originally posted by deriver69 So does anyone know pi to the nearest whole number? Seems like the bible was not too bad on this one. I think a reasonable degree of accuracy should be applauded.
Why so? The Egyptians and Babylonians had more accurate estimates long before the book of Kings was written.
Originally posted by KazetNagorra 1 Kings 7:23 states: (KJV)
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
Which suggests that God thinks pi = 3. What is the opinion of Christians on this matter?
If it was a perfect circle, then if the radius and circumference are both integers (or rational numbers) we would still only get an approximation for Pi.
Curiously, Pi is not the root of any equation of the form (a_n)*x^n + ... + (a_1)*x + (a_0), for a_i a rational number (p/q for p,q integers).
Originally posted by KazetNagorra Why so? The Egyptians and Babylonians had more accurate estimates long before the book of Kings was written.
Sure - but I presume the Egyptians and Babylonians were great civilisations when they discovered this. The Israelites, at the time of 1 Kings, were only just coming together as a Nation after years of living as separate tribes. There was no infrastructure to speak of, no major schools of learning.
Originally posted by KazetNagorra 1 Kings 7:23 states: (KJV)
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
Which suggests that God thinks pi = 3. What is the opinion of Christians on this matter?
The perimeter was 30 cubits, so the diameter was 10 cubits, rounded to the nearest integer.
God the Creator has the ultimate ability in math, I am sure. He has stamped His creation with many indications that numbers are meaningful to Him.
For example in physiology the number seven (a very significant biblical number) is impressed in many places. The days of man's years in Scripture is basically "three score years and ten" -(7 x 10).
The ancient Greeks spoke of the seven ages of man, according to Philo -
The various periods of gestation are also commonly multiples of seven, either in days or weeks.
With Insects the ova are hatched from sven half days (ie. wasp, bee, etc). In others it is seven whoe days. The majority of insects require from 14(2 x 7) to 42(6 x 7) days. The same applies to the larva state
Other animals have gestation periods impressed with seven:
Mouse - 21 days (3 x 7)
Hare and rat - 28 days (4 x 7)
Cat - 56 days (8 x 7)
Dog - 63 days (9 x 7)
Lion - 98 days (14 x 7)
Sheep - 147 days (21 x 7)
Hen - 21 days (3 x 7)
Duck - 42 days (6 x 7)
Human - 280 days (40 x 7)
Other numbers are significant in the Bible. And the impress of some of these numbers is seen in creation. This little example above is a sample of the number seven stamed by the Creator on physiology. We can rest assured that God's mathimatical abilities are very wise.
God can't do math?
12 Mar '09 21:28
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