Dear Rossy,
What an intersting theme! Thanks for asking this question.
Pi is such a special methematical concept, that there is a special
category on it in the Google Directory
<http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Math/Recreations/Specific_Numbers/Pi/?il=1>,
where you could read about the pi, with sub-categories discussing its
digits, people who deal and dealt with it, and even poems and a
science fiction film.
The history of the pi could be traced to the times of the Ancient
Egyptians and Mesopotamians period, as a review of the history of the
number by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson reveals (J J O'Connor and E F
Robertson, "A history of Pi", School of Mathematical and Computational
Sciences, University of St Andrews, - ONLINE:
<http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Pi_through_the_ages.html>).
It could be found in the Bible (in Kings and Chronicles), not in a
much of an accurate way. They write about the probably earliest usage:
"In the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus, which is dated about 1650 BC, there is
good evidence for 4(8/9)2 = 3.16 as a value for p." (ibid). The St
Andrews site also contains a chronology of Pi
<http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Pi_chronology.html>,
and a long list of referencees
<http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/References/Pi_through_the_ages.html>.
Another source which contains history of Pi is "History of Pi" at
Dale's Pi page <http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/5945/his.html>.
Dale doesn't forget to mention to us to celebrate the Pi Day, each
March 14th.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock also holds a site dedicated
to the Pi <http://www.ualr.edu/~lasmoller/pi.html> and its history,
from the Egyptians to this very day. Similarly, Lazarus Mudehwe's
article "The story of pi" describes the development of Pi (ZiMaths,
Volume 1, Issue 2 (February
1997)<http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/3550/pi.htm>).
If you want to know more about the history of the ways to express Pi,
I suggest Charles William Johnson's "Ancient Pi (): Knowers of the
Universe" Earth/Matrix <http://www.earthmatrix.com/ancient/pi.htm>,
while this page <http://www.cecm.sfu.ca/projects/ISC/Pihistory.html>
provides a "Table of computation of Pi from 2000 BC to now".
Pi in the Bible is also mentioned in a page with the same title from
the Y Files: <http://www.yfiles.com/pi.html>.
I hope that answers your question. I have searched for [pi history] in
order to find an answer
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pi+history>.
If you need any further clarifications on this answer, please let me
know before you rate/tip it.
See you next March 14th, I'll bring the pie. |
