Saturday, June 26, 2021

Tau Day 2021

If you've ever struggled with trigonometry, or wondered why we always use 2π for engineering, physics and calculus, it's because π is half as big as it needs to be. We used the wrong definition for the circle constant. If you haven't seen this video before, you're in for a treat.

 

His coverage of Euler's identity actually brings tears to my eyes. It is so elegant. Okay, I'm a geek.

All joking aside, I think the choice of π=C/D is one of the worst and most profound cock-ups in all of mathematics and geometry. And the reason is simple. Diameter is not a fundamental property of the circle. The radius is. 

No comments :

Post a Comment