Here is an interesting opinion paper on why Pi (3.1415…..) is wrong. The author claims that what we all know as Pi, should really be 2 x Pi, or 6.28. Although this would clean up a lot of complex equations, the mathematics behind these equations would remain the same, so it is just a matter of semantics really. Just like in programming, when you are deciding what to name a function that swaps the values of two variables. You would usually call it Swap(var A, var B), but it doesn’t really matter what you call it. You could call it ChickenHead(var A, var B), and it would not change the underlying function, although it does complicate the readability of the code. The author’s argument is much the same that the conventional value of Pi unnecessarily complicates many mathematical equations, which would be simplified with a re-factoring of the value. This was the most amusing part of the paper:
Now that is a fantastic sentiment! Overall though, since the earliest estimates of Pi have been around since 1900 BC, I think it is probably better to leave it just the way it is. Plus there are plenty of equations that only use Pi, and not 2 x Pi, so it would be a waste of time to adjust these equations just to make some others more aesthetically pleasing. As with many things, making improvements in one area, can have negative effects on another. To continue the programming analogy, the word REGRESSION comes to mind. After you get through the complaints on using iPaper to post the article, there are some good comments on the content of the paper here.