3.14
They wonder whether the digits contain a hidden rule, an as yet unseen architecture, close to the mind of God. A subtle and fantastic order may appear in the digits of pi way out there somewhere; no one knows. No one has ever proved, for example, that pi does not turn into nothing but nines and zeros, spattered to infinity in some peculiar arrangement. If we were to explore the digits of pi far enough, they might resolve into a breathtaking numerical pattern, as knotty as "The Book of Kells," and it might mean something. It might be a small but interesting message from God, hidden in the crypt of the circle, awaiting notice by a mathematician.
The brothers have lately been using m zero to explore the number pi. Pi, which is denoted by the Greek letter , is the most famous ratio in mathematics, and is one of the most ancient numbers known to humanity. Pi is approximately 3.14 — the number of times that a circle's diameter will fit around the circle.
-snip-
Pi goes on forever, and can't be calculated to perfect precision: 3.1415926535897932384626433832 795028841971693993751.... This is known as the decimal expansion of pi. It is a bloody mess. No apparent pattern emerges in the succession of digits. The digits of pi march to infinity in a predestined yet unfathomable code: they do not repeat periodically, seeming to pop up by blind chance, lacking any perceivable order, rule, reason, or design — "random" integers, ad infinitum. If a deep and beautiful design hides in the digits of pi, no one knows what it is, and no one has ever been able to see it by staring at the digits. Among mathematicians, there is a nearly universal feeling that it will never be possible, in principle, for an inhabitant of our finite universe to discover the system in the digits of pi. But for the present, if you want to attempt it, you need a supercomputer to probe the endless scrap of leftover pi.
It is a fascinating thing to me, that number. Or rather: that theory, that story, that thing. The number may never be knowable, but the story is as old as most anything I can think of.
I got to thinking of it as we were discussing religion and God at lunch today. Is this the number that offers us a glimpse into ‘Gods’ mind? Is this our key? Will we ever find the keyhole?
Imagine if you told Archimedes around 200 B.C., when he estimated Pi, that we would advance over the next two thousand years to understand that Pi goes on for trillions of digits. That it may in fact be the one thing that we know of that, as best we understand, goes on forever.
Physicists have noted the ubiquity of pi in nature. Pi is obvious in the disks of the moon and the sun. The double helix of DNA revolves around pi. Pi hides in the rainbow, and sits in the pupil of the eye, and when a raindrop falls into water pi emerges in the spreading rings. Pi can be found in waves and ripples and spectra of all kinds, and therefore pi occurs in colors and music.
It is in your cells and in your body. Everywhere you look, a little piece of infinity. Even when you look inside, a little piece of God’s magic.
They wonder whether the digits contain a hidden rule, an as yet unseen architecture, close to the mind of God. A subtle and fantastic order may appear in the digits of pi way out there somewhere; no one knows. No one has ever proved, for example, that pi does not turn into nothing but nines and zeros, spattered to infinity in some peculiar arrangement. If we were to explore the digits of pi far enough, they might resolve into a breathtaking numerical pattern, as knotty as "The Book of Kells," and it might mean something. It might be a small but interesting message from God, hidden in the crypt of the circle, awaiting notice by a mathematician.
The brothers have lately been using m zero to explore the number pi. Pi, which is denoted by the Greek letter , is the most famous ratio in mathematics, and is one of the most ancient numbers known to humanity. Pi is approximately 3.14 — the number of times that a circle's diameter will fit around the circle.
Pi goes on forever, and can't be calculated to perfect precision: 3.1415926535897932384626433832 795028841971693993751.... This is known as the decimal expansion of pi. It is a bloody mess. No apparent pattern emerges in the succession of digits. The digits of pi march to infinity in a predestined yet unfathomable code: they do not repeat periodically, seeming to pop up by blind chance, lacking any perceivable order, rule, reason, or design — "random" integers, ad infinitum. If a deep and beautiful design hides in the digits of pi, no one knows what it is, and no one has ever been able to see it by staring at the digits. Among mathematicians, there is a nearly universal feeling that it will never be possible, in principle, for an inhabitant of our finite universe to discover the system in the digits of pi. But for the present, if you want to attempt it, you need a supercomputer to probe the endless scrap of leftover pi.
It is a fascinating thing to me, that number. Or rather: that theory, that story, that thing. The number may never be knowable, but the story is as old as most anything I can think of.
I got to thinking of it as we were discussing religion and God at lunch today. Is this the number that offers us a glimpse into ‘Gods’ mind? Is this our key? Will we ever find the keyhole?
Imagine if you told Archimedes around 200 B.C., when he estimated Pi, that we would advance over the next two thousand years to understand that Pi goes on for trillions of digits. That it may in fact be the one thing that we know of that, as best we understand, goes on forever.
Physicists have noted the ubiquity of pi in nature. Pi is obvious in the disks of the moon and the sun. The double helix of DNA revolves around pi. Pi hides in the rainbow, and sits in the pupil of the eye, and when a raindrop falls into water pi emerges in the spreading rings. Pi can be found in waves and ripples and spectra of all kinds, and therefore pi occurs in colors and music.
It is in your cells and in your body. Everywhere you look, a little piece of infinity. Even when you look inside, a little piece of God’s magic.
'You could become obsessive thinking about things like this.'
I suppose for at least today I am. What a wonderful thing to find, should it be true, at the end of the article. Does Pi, like life, move in waves?
Posted by
Nathan |
5:12 PM