Question

Who invented "pi" and why was it created?

Answer 1

No one invented it! It was always there.

Answer 2

someone had to invent it tho, just like einstine invented some math..

Answer 3

"Discovered"

Answer 4

ok, then who discovered it?

Answer 5

Pi is, for any circle ever of any size, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter.

Answer 6

or radius

Answer 7

Well, 2pi would be the ratio of the circumference to the radius.

Answer 8

still a ratio!!

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi#Antiquity

Answer 10

But the answer is that we don't know specifically who discovered pi. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician who was the first to estimate its value to any real accuracy.

Answer 11

was its use known (for circles) when archimedes discovered it tho?

Answer 12

Yes.

Answer 13

yep Archimede estimated pi with a sum of square root

Answer 14

The person's name was Pi. If im not mistaken everyone who discover anything names it after their name.

Answer 15

Babylonians (probably)

Answer 16

People probably just used something like 3.1 as the circumference of a circle with radius 1. And then someone called it pi and started calculating the rest of it.

Answer 17

Or probably Pi discovered and named it Pi

Answer 18

"In Babylon, a clay tablet dated 1900–1600 BC has a geometrical statement that, by implication, treats π as 25/8."

This seems to be the earliest significant knowledge of pi.

Answer 19

how do they even "discover" irrational numbers

Answer 20

No discover the relation of the circumference and the diameter.

Answer 21

or probably someone was baking a pie and then tried to cut the perfect piece and after making some measurements discovered Pi.

Answer 22

dicovered by william jones as i guess

Answer 23

Ok. There's a philisophical argument here.

Answer 24

My pie argument will win!!!

Answer 25

Some people believe that math is created by man. Some people believe math exists and man discovered it.

Answer 26

Some would say that we did "invent pi", while others would argue that we "discovered it"

Answer 27

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi

Answer 28

But we can't even mathematically represent the big bang

Answer 29

So I think it exists and we discover it.

Answer 30

@Romero , I never made a position on this. I'm thinking about it myself.

Answer 31

I think man is just using math to understand nature. Sometimes it works and soemtimes it doesn't there are still a lot of things we don't understand.

Answer 32

Like what happens in a blackhole? we don't know but some people try to explain it using equations.

Answer 33

I can't really give my opinion on somethin I don't completely understand. Well I can, but I feel sorta wierd doing so.

Answer 34

The discovery of irrational numbers is way more interesting, in my opinion. The guy who proved that sqrt(2) is irrational got killed for it... by Pythagoras.

Answer 35

@inkyvoyd You should take a class in physics : special relativity.

Answer 36

Gives you a new perspective in how we use math to explain nature

Answer 37

pythagoras was killed for sqrt 2 cool story

Answer 38

Well, math is complicated...

Answer 39

i say math was invented as a measurement of science...but a lot disagree

Answer 40

We can make many of our scientific predictions using math.

Answer 41

In fact, theoretical science is mostly math, not science in the "scientific method" idea.

Answer 42

Lgb, Pythagoras wasn't killed for it. Good old Pythag did the killing. He and his math cult believed that all numbers were rational. When Hippias proved the existence of an irrational number, it shattered Pythagoras's view of the world and made Hippias a heretic. Hippias was killed for his claims.