Hi everyone,

 

I once read a story that a man calculated the value of PI upto a substantial number of decimal places manually. It was later discovered (after his death) that after a certain number of places - the calculation was wrong.

 

I sort of need to find the story. Google search didn't turn up anything. Any help is much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

[PS: sorry if this is the wrong forum - this seemed like the best fit]

William Shanks.

"The pinnacle of hand computation of π was achieved in the nineteenth century. William Shanks was a mathematician who spent a great amount of time compiling logarithm tables, prime number tables, and the like; in the days before calculating machines, large tables of such values were essential for work in engineering or physics.

He did try his hand at π, using Machins formula, and in 1873, after many years of labor, presented 707 digits of the number.

But π can be a cruel and fickle muse. It was later discovered that Shanks had made a mistake, and that after the 527th digit, his calculations were wrong. Nevertheless, it was the best value of π available until the advent of high-speed digital computers." from here

Edited December 20, 201015 yr by michel123456

Hi,

 

Thanks a lot for your reply. I really appreciate it.

 

- Aron

You're welcome.

William Shanks.

"The pinnacle of hand computation of π was achieved in the nineteenth century. William Shanks was a mathematician who spent a great amount of time compiling logarithm tables, prime number tables, and the like; in the days before calculating machines, large tables of such values were essential for work in engineering or physics.

He did try his hand at π, using Machin’s formula, and in 1873, after many years of labor, presented 707 digits of the number.

But π can be a cruel and fickle muse. It was later discovered that Shanks had made a mistake, and that after the 527th digit, his calculations were wrong. Nevertheless, it was the best value of π available until the advent of high-speed digital computers." from here

 

Nobody bothered to recalculate it for all those years?

Nobody bothered to recalculate it for all those years?

 

Continuously.

Here is the last one to date.

 

Pi is simultaneously a very interesting subject and a waste of time. IMHO.