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Re: YASID: Different value for pi

Newsgroups rec.arts.sf.written
From djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Subject Re: YASID: Different value for pi
Message-ID <pICt00.1CL@kithrup.com> (permalink)
Date 2018-11-17 20:02 +0000
References <5bf03249.292650156@localhost> <53fdd436-77ae-4fad-b843-1245cea897c4@googlegroups.com>
Organization Kithrup Enterprises, Ld.

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In article <53fdd436-77ae-4fad-b843-1245cea897c4@googlegroups.com>,
Robert Carnegie  <rja.carnegie@excite.com> wrote:
>Pi is 3 in Bob Shaw's _The Ragged Astronauts_, which I think 
>I've complained about before - specifically the pi thing,
>though I also found the monsters very unpleasant.  Pi isn't 
>a choice, and it bothers me when a story says that it is.

Except when it's close enough for government work^H^H^H^H^H^H^H...
estimating.  If I'm making a garment and I know what I want the circumference of
the neckline to be, and I need to find the radius to set the
compass to, I calculate pi-D for pi=3, halve D, and it's close
enough.

You'll recall the story of some dumb State legislature that
wanted to make pi=3 official; fortunately it was shot down.  They
were going by the Biblical description of a fbason" (a vat of
some kind) that was ten cubits across and had thirty decorative
"bosses" on its rim, each a cubit from the next.  That equates to
pi=3, but when it's something that size (a cubit is the length of a
man's forearm from elbow to fingertip), that's close enough.

Modern engineers, making a ballpark estimate, use pi=3 before
they get down to the actual design, where they have to be more
accurate.

>Another story, in a twentieth century setting, has a character 
>making their computer search in digits of pi for a message 
>from God.

Yeah, that was Sagan's novel, I forget its title [Hal has just
told me it was _Contact_].  You got down into the zillionth digit
and it formed a circle on the printout.  Cute, but tongue-in-cheek.

> And I think Star Trek's _Memory Prime_ has a 
>community of super-computers that happen to have worked out
>several interesting facts that they weren't asked for and
>haven't told their human associates, one being that their
>pi is eventually a repeating decimal.

That would knock a lot of socks off, yes.  I never saw/read that
one.

>I wonder if <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leibniz_formula_for_π>
>will link since the last symbol of the URL is the letter pi.
>This shows that a deceptively simple formula with no geometry
>produces the exact value of pi... gradually!  

Hey, you build your vat approximately 10 cubits across, and you
take your 30 bosses and lay them out till they look symmetrical
to the Mark 1 eyeball, and then weld them on.  When my daughter
was small, I made her a gown with daisies ~evenly spaced around
the hem.  I stuck pins in the hem, and moved them here and there
till they *looked* even, and then started embroidering.

> So there isn't
>really room to change it - although Jesus had an interesting 
>way with math if you gave him enough small loaves and fish 
>to work with.

And supernatural powers.  Any theist will argue that g/God made
the laws of nature in the first place, and caused grain and fish
to be fruitful and multiply on their own hook; this time he just
did it manually.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

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YASID: Different value for pi eichler2@comcastsucks.net (Bice) - 2018-11-17 15:22 +0000
  YASID: Different value for pi andrewelovejr@msn.com - 2018-11-17 08:49 -0800
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@sometimes.sessile.org> - 2018-11-17 17:08 +0000
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi eichler2@comcastsucks.net (Bice) - 2018-11-18 00:42 +0000
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi andrewelovejr@msn.com - 2018-11-17 16:47 -0800
  YASID: Different value for pi andrewelovejr@msn.com - 2018-11-17 08:51 -0800
    YASID: Different value for pi andrewelovejr@msn.com - 2018-11-17 08:52 -0800
  Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-17 09:37 -0800
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi Steve Dodds <sdodds@nova-optical.com> - 2018-11-17 11:41 -0700
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-17 20:02 +0000
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-17 16:48 -0500
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> - 2018-11-17 16:22 -0600
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> - 2018-11-18 13:17 -0500
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-18 21:02 +0000
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-11-19 11:40 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 17:01 -0600
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-18 07:31 -0800
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-18 16:26 +0000
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2018-11-18 19:52 -0700
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-19 03:33 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-19 01:33 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-19 15:01 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-19 16:23 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-19 13:48 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-19 22:32 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Sjouke Burry <burrynulnulfour@ppllaanneett.nnll> - 2018-11-19 23:55 +0100
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 15:36 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-20 00:57 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-20 01:47 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-20 04:41 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 17:21 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-20 00:35 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 13:36 -0600
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 23:04 -0800
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-18 11:44 -0500
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-19 01:41 -0800
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 08:49 -0500
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-17 22:46 +0000
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Jay E. Morris" <morrisj@epsilon3.com> - 2018-11-17 18:38 -0600
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-17 15:58 -0500
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2018-11-18 19:55 -0700
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 23:08 -0800
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-19 01:37 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi andrewelovejr@msn.com - 2018-11-19 03:58 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-19 07:42 -0800
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 08:56 -0500
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2018-11-19 14:32 +0000
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-19 07:45 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 14:56 -0500
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 12:28 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 12:58 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 15:26 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2018-11-19 15:42 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 20:25 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2018-11-19 20:45 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-19 22:29 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Ninapenda Jibini <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 06:52 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-12-04 14:23 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 21:47 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Ninapenda Jibini <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 06:53 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 06:13 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 06:56 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-20 14:26 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2018-11-24 19:49 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jerry Brown <jerry@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> - 2018-11-24 21:44 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-24 14:36 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-11-25 01:24 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-24 13:58 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2018-11-24 23:20 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-24 22:51 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2018-11-25 11:13 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-12-04 14:21 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-12-04 12:30 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-12-05 00:13 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-12-05 08:10 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-12-05 08:56 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-12-05 11:01 -0700
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-12-05 15:56 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-12-06 17:54 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> - 2018-12-08 17:32 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-12-14 00:34 -0600
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-01-01 15:39 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-01-01 18:36 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2019-01-01 20:45 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-01-01 15:50 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2019-01-01 19:13 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2019-01-01 16:41 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Sjouke Burry <burrynulnulfour@ppllaanneett.nnll> - 2019-01-02 04:09 +0100
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2019-01-03 14:56 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2018-12-06 10:19 -0700
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 12:32 -0800
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-19 15:20 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-11-19 15:44 -0700
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2018-11-18 10:39 -0700
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2018-11-18 12:58 -0700
  Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-17 19:14 +0000
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi Butch Malahide <fred.galvin@gmail.com> - 2018-11-17 18:34 -0800
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2018-11-17 22:44 -0500
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-18 05:12 +0000
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 03:43 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> - 2018-11-18 09:56 -0800
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2018-11-18 14:19 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-18 19:23 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2018-11-18 15:36 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-18 21:06 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2018-11-18 13:06 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-18 21:04 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 18:08 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-19 03:22 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Christian Weisgerber <naddy@mips.inka.de> - 2018-11-19 17:57 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-11-19 20:39 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Default User" <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> - 2018-11-18 21:14 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> - 2018-11-19 10:07 -0800
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 17:59 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> - 2018-11-19 21:57 +1100
        Re: YASID: Different value for pi Alan Baker <nunya@ness.biz> - 2018-11-26 16:43 -0500
          Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-26 22:07 +0000
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2018-11-26 14:10 -0800
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-26 23:00 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2018-11-26 15:11 -0800
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-11-26 15:38 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi Alan Baker <nunya@ness.biz> - 2018-11-26 17:52 -0500
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2018-11-27 00:27 +0000
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-27 00:53 +0000
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi Alan Baker <nunya@ness.biz> - 2018-11-26 22:11 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-27 04:09 +0000
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi Alan Baker <nunya@ness.biz> - 2018-11-27 10:03 -0800
            Re: YASID: Different value for pi David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2018-12-04 14:28 -0600
              Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2018-12-05 18:35 -0500
                Re: YASID: Different value for pi "Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> - 2018-12-07 22:44 +1100
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-11-18 04:57 +0000
      Re: YASID: Different value for pi Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2018-11-18 03:27 -0800
  Re: YASID: Different value for pi eichler2@comcastsucks.net (Bice) - 2019-01-03 22:05 +0000
    Re: YASID: Different value for pi Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2019-01-04 09:02 -0700

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