I believe that everyone is familiar with the subject of number. When we were in school, the teacher told us: if you learn mathematics, physics and chemistry, you are not afraid to travel all over the world. In fact, it is true. All the mysteries of this world are inseparable from the three disciplines of mathematics, physics and chemistry. In mathematics, physics and chemistry, mathematics ranks first again, which shows its importance.
Mathematics is a magical and important subject. It is the originator and foundation of all scientific classifications. Without the guidance of mathematics, other subjects cannot be explored. So every great scientist has very high mathematics, such as Newton and Einstein, their mathematics is also very good, especially Einstein, in order to have good achievements in physics, he used to spend special It took 10 years to re-study mathematics, which pushed the cultivation of mathematics to a very high level, so that later great achievements in physics were achieved.
Mathematics is a discipline that studies concepts such as quantity, structure, change, space, and information. From a certain perspective, it belongs to a kind of formal science. It is also the first subject to research since the birth of human beings. Before human beings had written words, Mathematics has been discovered by human ancestors and simple applications.
Researching and exploring the mysteries of mathematics is naturally inseparable from a large number of mathematical formulas and various magical numbers. There are many magical and incredible numbers in the palace of mathematics, many of which are still unsolvable, and they are covered with mystery. Among the many numbers, there is a number that we are very familiar with, but it has been plagued by scientists, and it is still difficult to crack the mystery behind it.
This number is the pi, which is a centimeter-free one we came into contact with when we were in elementary school. I believe everyone is familiar with the pi ratio. It is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. It is generally represented by the Greek letter π, and is a mathematical constant that exists in mathematics and physics.
When we were in elementary school, the teacher told us: Pi is an infinite non-recurring decimal, and its number of digits is endless and cannot be counted. In the history of human civilization, there are many mathematicians who have been calculating pi in their entire lives, but they have not counted it all out, so is it really impossible to calculate pi?
The magical and mysterious number of Pi has naturally attracted the exploration and research of countless scientists, so when did it appear? As for the time when Pi appeared, there is still no unified answer. Many people may say that Pi was discovered and calculated by ancient Chinese mathematicians, because in our mathematics textbooks, the originator of Pi is Zu Chongzhi.
So is Pi really discovered by Zu Chongzhi? Through further research and exploration by scientists later, the ancient Egyptians had calculations about circles as early as 4000 years ago, but the ratio of circumference to diameter calculated at that time was about 3.16, and this is currently believed to be the earliest appearance of pi. Time and place.
In my country, the first person to study the calculation of Pi in the third century was Liu Hui in the third century. He accurate to the last three decimal places of Pi, which was a world leader at the time. Later generations called it the Hui rate to commemorate Liu Hui. More than 200 years later, the famous Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi, based on Liu Hui, calculated the inscribed hexagon of the circle to 24567 sides.
In order to complete this super-complex calculation project, Zu Chongzhi repeated at least 130 operations on nine digits, among which there were nearly 50 square root and exponentiation operations. In that era when there were no computers, the amount of calculations could be imagined by using manual work.
It is precisely because of Zu Chongzhi’s efforts that for the first time human beings have accurate the value of π to six decimal places, and determined that the pi ratio is between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. Zu Chongzhi uses two fractions of approximately 22/7 and a density of 355/113 to express the pi.
Zu Chongzhi’s calculation of pi once again proved China’s leading position in the field of ancient mathematics. And the Europeans who also calculated such accuracy will have to wait more than 1,000 years later. In order to commemorate Zu Chongzhi, people named 355/113 as Zu rate. This is a huge improvement, so when we talk about who is the originator of Zhou Zhou, we will generally say that it is Zu Chongzhi.
After mankind entered the technological age, with the help of computers, our calculation of pi has entered a stage of rapid improvement. With the continuous improvement of computer performance, the number of digits of pi has also exploded. From 1949, it can be counted to 2037 digits after the decimal point. By 2011, it has reached 10 trillion digits.
On March 14, 2019, Google announced that the pi ratio has now broken through 3000 trillion digits, reaching 31.4 trillion digits, which is another huge breakthrough. Even so, we still have not seen the end of Pi. Many people will say that we should not waste our efforts. Even if the computer is advanced, Pi cannot be counted. It is simply a number without a ruler.
So can pi be counted? From a scientific point of view, there are no infinite things in this world. The law of increase in entropy tells us that everything goes from order to disorder, and finally to the end. Whether it is life or the universe, there is an end. There is no infinite existence in one day.
Pi also belongs to all things, and theoretically it cannot be infinite. If it is infinite, then it violates the laws of science and nature. Therefore, some scientists believe that the pi rate also has an end, and it can be counted, but the current scientific and technological strength of mankind cannot be done.
Some people also think that Pi is too mysterious. It may contain the mystery of time and space. Perhaps it is not a three-dimensional universe at all, but comes from a higher-dimensional universe, unintentionally discovered by humans in the three-dimensional world. It was the birth of Pi.
Pi cannot be counted, and it may be that our understanding of it is only a superficial, and we have no essential secrets at all. Regardless of whether the Pi has an end or not, what kind of secrets are behind it, its importance to mankind is getting higher and higher. Pi is used in many fields of mankind now. It will be used more and more in the future, and there will be more and more researches on it. I believe that one day, we will truly unveil its mysterious veil.