At that time, π almost became 3.2 (or 4).

The constant ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter π is, and has always been, 3. 14 15926. Not sure. However, in the winter of 1897, the Indiana legislature almost changed this mathematical constant with civil law.

This absurd story began with amateur mathematician Edward Goodwin. In 1894, he believes that he has finally solved an old mathematical problem "getting the circle right" (that is, using a ruler and compasses to find a square with the same area as a given circle). Goodwin, a philanthropist, intends to protect his evidence. He wants to make sure that schools in Indiana can use it for free in textbooks. Somehow, he persuaded the representative of Indiana, Taylor I of Percy County, to put forward a bill on 1897 18 10/0, and the relevant part of the bill also pointed out:

This is a bill aimed at introducing new mathematical truths. It is found that the area of a circle is equal to the square of a straight line around the circle. When calculating the area of a circle, it is completely wrong to use the diameter as the linear unit according to the current rules. [ 1]

Bill written by Goodwin, in the words of Professor C.A. Waldo, a respected mathematician at that time, gave two different values of π, both of which were incorrect: "At first, it gave 4 as the true value. Towards the end, it gives 3.2…

After the introduction, I went to the canal of the House Committee (sometimes called the Swamp Committee). The House Committee didn't know how to deal with it, so it was sent to the Education Committee on 10/89719, and the Education Committee recommended it on February 2 1897.

At the plenary meeting, one of the former teachers said: "If we pass this bill and determine a new correct value for π, the author will provide his findings to our state for free and publish them in our school textbooks for free, while others must pay him royalties.

Unusually, the bill passed the third reading in the House of Representatives (in fact, they had to suspend a rule for the third reading), but it was finally passed by 67 votes to 0 on February 5th. 1897. Obviously, no one understood what it said.

In the Indiana Senate, the bill was first sent to the Prohibition Committee, which must have fallen, because in February 1897, the Committee recommended the passage of the bill. [4]

However, on February 1897 and 12, when the bill entered the Senate seat, it was immediately ridiculed-not because the senator could say it himself, but because it involved mathematics, so π needed to be revised to complete the proof. 1897 February 12, Senator hubbell summed up the views of most people: "The Senate might as well let Shuishan pass legislation, so as to establish a mathematical truth through law." [5]

Of course, senators don't really understand the contents of the bill. Moreover, as an institution famous for its lack of etiquette and tendency of "telling jokes, making jokes and making noise", the Senate began to laugh at the bill for another 30 minutes, such as this exchange:

Senator drummond: "Maybe I know nothing about this math problem."

Senator Ellison: "Agreed! Agreed! [6]

After that, the laughter died down, but the bill was abandoned. This may be mainly due to an amazing coincidence that happened three weeks ago. When the House of Representatives voted on the bill, it happened that

Professor C.a.Waldo mentioned earlier once directed the appropriation bills of Indiana University and Purdue University in the legislature. After the bill of pi was passed, someone showed it to Professor Waldo and asked him if he would like to meet Goodwin. After reading this document, Waldo refused to say, "He can know as many crazy people as he wants."

Waldo then began to work in the Senate, guiding them with his words, so when the bill reached this respected institution, they fully understood its absurdity.

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The origin of mathematical convention, using "X" as the unknown "Pi", this horse can be used as a brief history of mathematics: the unexpected clever Hans scam in the United States, the first British satellite being attacked by an unexpected nuclear bomb in the United States, and the dispute over beer quality led to the war between Oxford students and townspeople.

The mathematical volume of pizza is pizza. If z= the radius of the pizza and a= the height, then ∏ * RADIUS 2 * the height = PI * z * z * A. The equal sign ("=") was invented by 1557 by the Welsh mathematician Robert Record. He is tired of writing "equal" in the equation. He chose these two lines because, "nothing can be more equal than this." For details, please refer to Eddington Report, Indiana pi, Indiana pi Bill pi Day, Indiana Academy of Sciences 1 916-1965438 for further reference [1] Eddington at 207.

[2] Eddington, p. 207

[3] Eddington, p. 207

[4] Eddington, p. 209

[5] Indianapolis Magazine,1February, 897 13, page 3, column 5.

[6] Indianapolis News, 1897 February 13, the first 1 1 column, column 4. "