[87173] in Cypherpunks
pi == 3 [was: Re: Chutzpah! FBI Calls Privacy Extremists Elitist
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Trei)
Fri Sep 26 13:19:36 1997
From: "Peter Trei" <trei@process.com>
To: spector@zeitgeist.com, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net, minow@apple.com
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 12:14:30 -6
Reply-To: "Peter Trei" <trei@process.com>
> From: David HM Spector <spector@zeitgeist.com>
> Re: Pi....
>
> I believe the enlightened Legislator who attempted to legislate Pi was
> none other than Jesse Helms (although this could be a legislative
> myth!) and when Ol'Jesse proposed it (because he was "sick of all these
> egg-heads with their big numbers") John Glenn said something on the
> order of ' if your legislation passes Senator, I wouldn't want to
> driver over any bridges in your state!'
> _DHMS
Not Helms, and not recently. From 'Extraordinary Pi',
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~nickjh/Pi.htm :
Indiana State Legislature House Bill No. 246, 1897, set the value of
Pi to a to 3. Duh !
Actually the wording of the bill is really unclear and can
interpreted in various ways. Other interpretations include 3.2, 4
and 9.2376. The bill goes on in a confused way to contradict
other areas of elementary geometry, and to contradict itself. It
got passed all the way up to Senate level, then a Mathematics
Professor noticed it by chance, informed the Senate, and it was
posponed indefinitely at its second reading.
Peter Trei
