There are many who question, where the geometry term Pi came from and what its actual meaning is. For instance, in school students are introduced to symbols like Pi. Pi is defined as, “the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle”.
Furthermore, the size of the circle does not matter because the ratio will always equal Pi. In 1706, William Jones, Welsh mathematician, was the first to use the greek letter “?”, but, it was not until 30 years later that it became a mathematical notation. The symbol comes from the greek alphabet and stands for the letter p. William Jones purpose of using pi was to abbreviate the word perimeter. Before the symbol ? was used they used fractions such as 22/7 and 355/113 to express the ratio.
Pi is an irrational number even though times long gone it could not be proven. Irrational number meaning an infinite, non repeating sequence of digits that could never totally be expressed in numerical order. The irrationality was proven in 1761, by Johann Lambert. In 1852, Ferdinand Lindemann proved that ? was a non-algebraic irrational number, the symbol was a transcendental number. In other words, one in which is not a solution of an algebraic equation. In 675, William jones was born on a small farm on Anglesey. His only education was at a local charity school, where he first began to show a huge interest in mathematics.
Later on in life Jones began to teach mathematics in London. He wrote his first book in 1702, entitled, “A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Practical Navigation”. In 1706, Jones caught Isaac Newton’s attention that was around the time he published Synopsis,where he explained Newton’s methods for calculous, as well as, other mathematical changes. The symbol ? was then popularized by Leonhard Euler and adopted by him as well. The first calculation of pi was done by Archimedes of Syracuse which was in 287 -212 B.C.E, one of the greatest mathematicians in the ancient world.
There is a special day called PI day that is celebrated on 3/14(3.14) in many parts of the word to complete this phase of challenging math , get it? Pi as you can tell has been very difficult to calculate it has taken many different engineers and mathematicians to figure out the ratio. It has taken some of the smartest people in many parts of the word to complete this phase of challenging math. The Origin of Pi is normally taught in Geometry which I am going to be taking next semester. I am looking forward to be learning this type of math because I feel as though it will be something I would have to really pay close attention in order to succeed in.
I feel as though I will have to work very hard to be able to succeed in a subject like Geometry. It will be fun to have a change and begin a new type of Math.
