Proponents celebrate Tau Day; they want twice as much Pi | BBC (serious)
June 28, 2011 at 12:36 pm
(This post was last modified: June 28, 2011 at 12:39 pm by Anymouse.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13906169
To-day is International Tau Day. It is June 28 (6.28), twice pi. Celebrate by eating twice as much pi. The link above includes an audio interview.
Tau is a maths constant, twice the value of pi. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Tau has very ardent supporters who believe it should replace pi, as the ratio of the radius of a circle to its circumference (tau) is far more useful than pi. And that way you also get twice as much pi.
The angles of a circle are usually easier to compute using the ratio tau, as the various maths involving circles are usually applied to their radii, not the diameter. The functions of angular measurement using radians are particularly easier.
A citation from the full article at the above link:
Tau proponents say that for many problems in maths, tau makes more sense and makes calculations easier.
Not all fans of maths agree, however, and pi's rich history means it will be a difficult number to unseat.
"I like to describe myself as the world's leading anti-pi propagandist," said Michael Hartl, an educator and former theoretical physicist.
"When I say pi is wrong, it doesn't have any flaws in its definition - it is what you think it is, a ratio of circumference to diameter. But circles are not about diameters, they're about radii; circles are the set of all the points a given distance - a radius - from the centre," Dr Hartl explained to BBC News.
By defining pi in terms of diameter, he said, "what you're really doing is defining it as the ratio of the circumference to twice the radius, and that factor of two haunts you throughout mathematics."
"What's amazing is the 'conversion experience': people find themselves almost violently angry at pi. They feel like they've been lied to their whole lives, so it's amazing how many people express their displeasure with pi in the strongest possible terms - often involving profanity.
"I don't condone any actual violence - that would be really bizarre, wouldn't it?"
The BBC has a form at the link above if you have had a”conversion experience” with tau, that you may send in commentary to be appended to the article. They also wish to know if you are celebrating Tau Day.
James.
"Without death, life is meaningless. It is a story that can never be told. A song that can never be sung. For how would one finish it?"—Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith
"Be ye not lost amongst Precept of Order." - Book of Uterus, 1:5, "Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her."
