It’snothardtofigureoutwhyMarch14iscelebratedannuallyas“PiDay”bymathfans:Thedateresemblestheratioofacircle’scircumferencetoitsdiameter—thenumberthatbeginswith3.14

Piisthe16thletterintheGreekalphabet,whichhas24characters,justlikethatofthestandardEnglishone.Thenumericrepresentationofpi(3.14…..)isequaltothecircumferenceofacircledividedbyitsdiameter.

AncientGreekmathematicianArchimedesofSyracuse,wholivedinthethirdcenturyB.C.andisconsideredthegreatestmathematicianoftheancientworld,iscreditedwithdoingthefirstcalculationofpi.

Pi,thenumberusedtofindtheareaandcircumferenceofacircle,actuallygoesoninfinitely.AccordingtoHistory.com,pihascurrentlybeencalculatedoutto“morethan[one]trilliondecimalplaces.”

Thelastcalculationdoneatthewritingofthisarticle—accordingtoUSAToday—wasinAugust2021attheUniversityofAppliedSciencesinSwitzerland.Itputpiat62,831,853,071,796digits.

Whetherpiisusefulforcalculatingtheareaofacirclehasbeenquestionedinmorerecentyears;PiDay.orgnotedthatagrowingnumberofmathematiciansbelieveanalternativecalledtauisbetter.“Youcansimplymultiplytauwiththeradiusofacircletocalculateitscircumferenceintuitively,”thewebsiteexplained.Pihasitsusesoutsideofmathclass,though.

Ithas“beenusedtohelpcalculatetheorbitofplanetsinthesolarsystemandexaminehowripplesinriverscarryenergy.”

OnMarch12,2009,theU.S.HouseofRepresentativespassedanon-bindingresolutionrecognizingMarch14,2009,asNationalPiDay.Thegoalwastoincreaseinterestinmathandscience.

ARCHIMEDESTHEANCIENTGREEKMATHEMATICIAN

Archimedeswasbornaround287BCintheseaportcityofSyracuseinSicily.SyracusewasoneofthemajorpowersinancientGreeceandhasbeendescribedas“thegreatestGreekcityandthemostbeautifulofthemall”.ItsruleratthetimewasKingHieroII.

LittleisknownaboutthefamilyofArchimedes.HewasthesonofPhidias,anastronomer.WeknowthisasArchimedesgivesusthisinformationinoneofhisworks,TheSandreckoner.AccordingtoPlutarch,theancientGreekbiographerandessayist,ArchimedeswasrelatedtoKingHieroII.

HistoriansbelievethatheatleasthadafriendshipwiththekingofSyracuseevenifhewasn’trelatedtohim.ItisnotknownwhetherArchimedesmarriedorhadchildren

The Fascinating History Behind Pi Day

ThecityofAlexandriainEgyptwastheintellectualandculturalcentreofancientGreeceatthetimeofArchimedes.ThoughArchimedeswasborn,diedandlivedmostofhislifeinSyracuse,itishighlylikelythatasayoungmanhestudiedinAlexandriawiththesuccessorsofanothergreatGreekmathematicianEuclid.ThiscanbededucedfromthefactthathepersonallyknewothermathematicianswhowereworkingtherelikeCononofSamosandEratosthenesofCyrene,andhesenthisresultstoAlexandriawithpersonalmessages.Also,ArchimedeswasfamiliarwiththemathematicswhichhaddevelopedinAlexandria.

ThemostfamousstoryrelatedtoArchimedesinvolvesachallengepresentedtohimbyKingHieroII.Thekinghadsuppliedpuregoldtoagoldsmithtomakeacrownforatemplebuthewasuncertainaboutthefinishedproductdoubtingwhetherthegoldsmithhadmixedsomesilverinthecrown.HegaveArchimedesthetasktofindthepurityofthecrownwithoutdamagingit.Afterbeingtroubledforawhile,Archimedes,supposedlyinhisbath,discoveredthattherewasadirectcorrelationofthewateroverflowingfromthetubwithhisimmersedbody.Hethenallegedlyranthroughthestreetsnakedyelling,“Eureka”(“Ihavefound[it]!”).Eurekahassincebecomeacommoninterjectiontocelebrateadiscoveryorinvention.Thetestwasconductedanditwasultimatelyprovedthatsilverhadindeedbeenmixedinthecrown.Whetherornottheallegedincidenttookplace,ArchimedesdidformulatethefamousArchimedesprinciplewhichcouldbeusedtosolvetheproblemhehadbeenpresented.

Aleverisamachineconsistingofarigidrodpivotedatafixedhinge,orfulcrum.InhisbookOntheEquilibriumofPlanes,Archimedesprovedthelawoftheleverusinggeometricreasoning.

Itshowsthatifthedistanceafromthefulcrumtowheretheinputforceisapplied(pointA)isgreaterthanthedistancebfromthefulcrumtowheretheoutputforceisapplied(pointB),thentheleveramplifiestheinputforce.Archimedes’sunderstandingofhisprincipleofmechanicaladvantagecausedhimtoremark,

‘Givemeaplacetostand,andIshallmovetheEarthwithit.

TheArchimedes’principleisalawinhydrostaticsformulatedbyArchimedeswhichstatesthatabodytotallyorpartiallyimmersedinafluidissubjecttoanupwardforce(buoyantforce)thatisequalinmagnitudetotheweightofthefluiditdisplaces.Thus,thenetupwardforceontheobjectisthedifferencebetweenthebuoyantforceanditsweight.Ifthisnetforceispositive,theobjectrises;ifnegative,theobjectsinks;andifzero,theobjectremainsinplacewithouteitherrisingorsinking.Archimedes’principleisalawofphysicsfundamentaltofluidmechanicsandithasnumerousapplicationsincludingthehydrometer,whichusesittodeterminethespecificgravity(relativedensity)ofliquids;designingofshipsandsubmarines;andincontrollingtheflightofahot-airballoon.

Archimedesappliedhismathematicalknowledgetoinventwarmachineswhichmadehimoneofthemostrenownedfiguresintheancientwest.OneofthesemachineswastheClawofArchimedeswhichwasusedtodefendtheseasidecityofSyracuseagainstanamphibiousattack.Itconsistedofahooksystemtoliftandtoppleshipsthatapproachedthewallsofthecity.In214BC,duringtheSiegeofSyracuse,theRomansattackedSyracusewithafleetof60warshipsunderMarcellus.TheclawmachinesreportedlysankmanyRomanshipsandthrewtheattackintoconfusion.

TheweaponsdevelopedbyArchimedessuccessfullydefendedSyracuseforacoupleofyearsbuttheRomanswereultimatelyvictoriousin212BC.TheRomancommanderMarcelluswaswellawareofthegeniusofArchimedesandhespecificallyorderedthatArchimedesshouldnotbekilled.

Accordingtolegend,Archimedeswascontemplatingamathematicaldiagramwhenthecitywascaptured.ARomansoldierorderedhimtocomeandmeetGeneralMarcellusbuthedeclined,sayingthathehadtofinishworkingontheproblem.Enragedbythereply,thesoldierkilledthe75-year-oldArchimedeswithhissword.

ThelastwordsattributedtoArchimedesare“Nōlīturbārecirculōsmeōs!”(“Donotdisturbmycircles!”),areferencetotheworkhewasdoingwhendisturbedbythesoldier.However,thereisnoreliableevidencetoconfirmthis.

TheworksofArchimedeswerefirstcompiledintoacomprehensivetextin530ADbyByzantinearchitectIsidorusofMiletus.

Acopyofthistextwasmadearound950AD,againintheByzantineEmpire.ThismanuscriptthenmadeitswaytoalibraryinJerusalemand,ultimately,in1906,itwasdiscoveredbyDanishhistorianJohanLudvigHeiberg.

AleadingauthorityonArchimedes,HeibergconfirmedthatthepalimpsestincludedworksbyArchimedesthoughttohavebeenlost.TheArchimedesPalimpsestcontainstwoimportanttreatisesbyArchimedesthatcanbefoundnowhereelse,TheMethodandStomachion.

Itisnowreadableafterscientificandscholarlyworkfrom1998to2008whichusedmultispectralimagingandanx-raytechnique.ArchimedesPalimpsesthasshednewlightonArchimedesincludingthefactthatheanticipatedcalculusandconsideredtheconceptofactualinfinity.

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