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Re: value of pi and 22/7

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Ian Kelly wrote:
>  Remember, the cubit was based on the length of the
> forearm, so it's not like it was a terribly precise measurement to
> begin with;

Let's not sell them short. Just because it was based on a forearm
doesn't mean they didn't have a precise standard for it, any more
than people who measure things in "feet" do it by plonking down
their own foot.

No doubt it wasn't as precise as what we have nowadays, but
it was probably a lot better than human body part variations.

> they might not have understood significant figures, but
> they probably wouldn't have been overly concerned about the difference
> between thirty and thirty-one.

If you're building something the size of a pyramid, that could
add up to quite a lot of error.

-- 
Greg

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Re: value of pi and 22/7 Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-06-17 16:12 -0700
  Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-06-17 17:49 -0600
    Re: value of pi and 22/7 Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-06-18 11:19 +1000
      Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-06-17 19:27 -0700
      Re: value of pi and 22/7 Tim Harig <timharig@eternal-september.org> - 2016-06-18 05:47 +0000
        Re: value of pi and 22/7 boB Stepp <robertvstepp@gmail.com> - 2016-06-18 10:22 -0500
      Re: value of pi and 22/7 Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2016-06-18 09:56 +0200
  Re: value of pi and 22/7 Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-06-17 23:48 -0400
    Re: value of pi and 22/7 Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-06-17 21:30 -0700
      Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-06-17 23:18 -0600
        Re: value of pi and 22/7 Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-06-20 10:25 +1200
          Re: value of pi and 22/7 Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-06-20 12:07 +1000
            Re: value of pi and 22/7 Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com> - 2016-06-20 18:06 +0000
          Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-06-19 23:19 -0600
            Re: value of pi and 22/7 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-06-20 16:22 +1000
              Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-06-20 10:01 -0600
                Re: value of pi and 22/7 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-06-21 18:38 +1000
              Re: value of pi and 22/7 Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-06-20 10:09 -0600
          Re: value of pi and 22/7 Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-06-19 22:51 -0700
            Re: value of pi and 22/7 Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-06-20 10:32 +0300
              Re: value of pi and 22/7 Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-06-20 01:01 -0700
                Re: value of pi and 22/7 Wildman <best_lay@yahoo.com> - 2016-06-20 17:24 -0500
                Re: value of pi and 22/7 Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-06-21 01:47 +0300
                Re: value of pi and 22/7 Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-06-22 14:20 -0700
      Re: value of pi and 22/7 Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-06-20 10:14 +1200
        Re: value of pi and 22/7 Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com> - 2016-06-20 17:53 +0000
        Re: value of pi and 22/7 Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-06-20 21:52 +0300
          Re: value of pi and 22/7 Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-06-22 00:52 +1200
  Re: value of pi and 22/7 Pete Forman <petef4+usenet@gmail.com> - 2016-06-18 13:05 +0100
  Re: value of pi and 22/7 Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> - 2016-06-18 18:09 +0200

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