Posted by:
Eric K
(
)
Date: March 14, 2018 09:42AM
Indiana tried to legislate the value of pi. I believe we have similar people now in powerful positions.
From the Smithsonian:
1897: Lawmakers in Indiana almost pass a bill that erroneously labels the value of pi to 3.2. Cajoled by an amateur mathematician Edwin Goodwin, the Indiana General Assembly introduced House Bill 246, which introduced “a new mathematical truth” for sole use by the state. The “truth” was an attempt to square the circle–a puzzle which requires that a circle and square of the same area be constructed using only a geometrical compass and a straightedge. The bill unanimously passed the house, but the senate and hence the state was spared from embarrassment by C.A. Waldo, a Purdue mathematics professor who coincidentally happened to be in the State House that day. “Shown the bill and offered an introduction to the genius whose theory it was, Waldo declined, saying he already knew enough crazy people,” Tony Long of Wired wrote. Waldo gave the senators a math lesson, and the bill died.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/that-time-indiana-almost-made-pi-equal-to-32-and-other-true-stories-about-pi-2520575/#7VS9KmR2w2TPSr44.99