history of Pi

Greek Letter Pi Equations and Notations

Some of the most complex ideas and concepts came from the earliest history of mankind. For example, the notion of Greek letter pi, or the ratio between a circle's circumference and diameter, stems back early biblical times.

Algebra began its development in both the nations of Egypt and Babylonia about 1650 BC. However, historians remain uncertain as to whether or not new ideas traveled between these two countries. Written relics such as papyri and the Hammurabi clay tablets of this time indicate that algebra in Egypt was less sophisticated than that in Babylonia (Gullberg, 1997), in part because the it had a more primitive numeral system. It is also believed that the Babylon influences spread to Greece, 500 BC to 300 BC, then to the Arabian Empire and India, 700 AD, and finally to Europe,1100 AD (Baumgart, 1969)

The equations and notations that are applied today were first used around 1700 BC and standardized by about 1700 AD, primarily because of the invention of the printing press in 1450 and the ability of scholars to easily travel from one location to another. This helped spread ideas across the continents. However, there has never been complete consistency of algebraic notations and differences are still found in various areas of the world. For instance, many Americans use a period with decimals and Europeans use a comma, and thus 3,14 as an approximation for pi or 3.14 (Baumgart, 1969).

The concept of pi was also found in the Bible's Old Testament. For example, 1 Kings 7:23, says: "Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about" (Blatner, 13), meaning, perhaps, that pi = 3. Scholars have debated about this verse for centuries, and they are not much close to knowing the truth now. Some people believe it is just an approximation and others argue.".. The diameter perhaps was measured from outside, while the circumference was measured from inside" (Tsaban, 76).

According to Tsaban (78), most of these scholars do not notice another use of pi that is more helpful: In Hebrew, each letter equals a certain number, and a word's value is equal to the sum of its letters. Thus, in 1 Kings 7:23, the word "line" is written Kuf Vov Heh, but the Heh does not need to be there, and is not pronounced. With the extra letter, the word has a value of 111, but without it, the value is 106. (Kuf=100, Vov=6, Heh=5). The ratio of pi to 3 is very close to the ratio of 111 to 106. In other words, pi/3 = 111/106 approximately; solving for pi, is pi = 3.1415094... (Tsaban, 78). This figure is much more accurate than any other value that had been calculated up to that point, and would hold the record for the greatest number of correct digits for several hundred years afterwards. Unfortunately, very few people know this fact.