In collections of entertaining facts and other literature, one can often find a statement that in the state of Indiana the value of the number of PI at the legislative level is equal to 4 - for the convenience of calculations. We checked if it was true.

In the post -Soviet space, this funny fact has been known since the time of the USSR. For example, in 1991 he got into the domestic edition Guinness Books With reference to a certain Bill 246, adopted by the General Assembly of the state. And in our time, this information appears in various publications (often in collections of ridiculous American laws). For example, c "Tver linguistic meridian", New Crocodile magazine and such authoritative sources as a magazine "Kommersant Power" And "Parliamentary newspaper". But the book “100 Great Scientific Achievements of Russia” provides a different meaning of Constant - there Approvedthat in the state of Indiana, the number of PI is 3.2.

The fact that the number of PI (π) is the ratio of the circumference to its diameter is irrational, that is, it cannot be represented in the form of an ordinary fraction, people know from the school bench. Typically, in household calculations, a rounded value is used - 3.14, although it is not at all suitable for more accurate and important measurements.

But first, let's turn not to the problems of the number of pi, but to such an insoluble task of antiquity as the quadrature of the circle - the construction with the help of a circul and a square line equal in area of this circle. Mathematicians fought over this problem for many centuries, but only in 1882 Ferdinand von Lindeman Proved the futility of all potential efforts in this matter. And if the scientists of the globe quickly found out about the disappointing, but in general a rather expected conclusion, then the non -professionals did not leave hopes.

In 1888, the doctor and amateur mathematician from Indiana Edward (Edwin) Johnston Goodwin decided that he had made an opening, and spent several years trying to report it to the world. In anticipation of the World Exhibition in Chicago of 1893, he managed to agree with the organizers on the allocation of the pavilion to “give scientific lectures”. However, soon the leadership of the exhibition, having familiarized himself with the calculations of Goodwin, informed him of his refusal. The amateur mathematician did not lose heart and published in July 1894 article About his scientific victory is not somewhere, but in the "American mathematical monthly", an advanced publication in its field. True, marked “published at the request of the author” and a complete refusal of liability from the publication. Publishers could not help but see that the article was full of mistakes. Firstly, Goodwin did not understand that the task is to build an equal square without measuring instruments (the line should not have divisions), and not in finding the length of its side. Secondly, he argued that the area of the circle and square are equal if the perimeter of the latter is equal to the length of the circle, which, to put it mildly, is wrong.

Having never found mistakes in his reasoning or hiding them, Edwin Goodwin decided to take a new height. He convinced Taylor a record, a member of the House of Representatives of the state from his native district, put an act of Indiana to the General Assembly (analogue of parliament), which would consolidate the conclusions of Goodwin at the legislative level. The main argument of Goodwin was that his native Indiana, thanks to his discovery, will be able to save money. After all, since Pravda has opened, no one can ignore it. And Goodwin was going to receive copyright deductions for using his discovery (primarily for educational purposes), but the authorities of Indiana, the mathematical genius allowed to use its formulas for free. Farmer and dealer Taylor Record, who spent his first and last term as a representative, did not understand anything according to the mathematical part, but soon he entered the House of Representatives Bill 246.

This Bill stood out by many beautiful details. For example, section 3, which said that Goodvinov’s solutions to the problems of the quadrature of the circle, doubling of the cube and trisecks of the angle (three insoluble Classic tasks for building) Already recognized as a contribution to the science of "American mathematical monthly." As we showed above, it was not true.

In addition, you can not pass by the figure described in section 2:

This is a circle with a length of 32 and a diameter of 10, in which the square with the side of 7. The sides of the depicted square, according to the Pythagorean theorem, should have a length:

which is not equal to 7. Nevertheless, Goodwin draws from here the conclusion that the length of the circumference and the diameter correlate as 4 to 5/4, that is, 3.2 to 1. And although the number of PI in the bill does not appear, it follows that this constant is 3.2. Not 4, namely 3.2.

On January 18, 1897, Bill 246 was considered by the House of Representatives of Indiana. The theme of the bill and the abundance of unfamiliar Greek words caused some confusion among the people's chosen ones. First, it was proposed to send an act for approval to the financial committee. Then - to the Committee on Swamps, where he "finds a well -deserved grave." In the end, the paper was under the jurisdiction of the Education Committee, which, oddly enough, responded to the project positively, as a result of which on February 6, 1897 the latter was adopted by the House of Representatives (votes distribution 67: 0). So, half of the work was done, it remained to convince the Senate.

But for the trouble of Edwin Goodwin, a day earlier, Professor Clarence Waldo, head of the mathematics department of the prestigious university, who was instructed to break the budget of the State Academy of Sciences, arrived in Indianapolis. The least he expected to get to discuss the mathematical law. Waldo was shown a copy of the bill and offered to introduce his author. The professor refused, saying that he was introduced to a sufficient number of crazy people. Moreover, he held a serious conversation with the senators, explaining them the real state of affairs with the square of the circle.

As a result, when the bill reached the Senate, it was met there coolly there. The Committee considering the application gave its approval, but on February 12, 1897, the Senate postponed the adoption of the bill for an indefinite period. The decisive argument was one of the senators that the General Assembly does not have the authority to determine the mathematical truth. The campaign to make fun of the law, deployed in the press: did not play the last role:

So newspapers depicted an unlucky farmer-enlightener

How I wrote Indianapolis News after a decisive meeting, “senators praised the law and ridiculed it. The fun lasted half an hour. Senator Hubbell said that the Senate, whose meetings cost a state of $ 250 per day, did not work out to waste time on such frivoli. According to him, the study of the leading newspapers of Chicago and the east of the country led him to the conclusion that the legislative bodies of the Indians put themselves on the laughing stock of the measures that have already been adopted in relation to Bill. " Since then, they have no longer returned to the scandalous bill.

20 years later, Professor Waldo suggestedthat only the intervention of the Academy of Sciences prevented this monstrous act. “If this conclusion is correct,” he added, “then only this act of prevention was worth it for Indiana, jealous of its honest glory, more than its entire past and future contribution to the publication of the minutes of the meetings of the Academy of Sciences.”

The doctor and amateur mathematician Edwin Goodwin died in 1902, only five years after the sensational case with the bill. As mentioned in his necrologist, “he thought he made a great discovery, and wanted to benefit the world. <...> Years went on, and when he saw that the brainchild of his genius was still not accepted by the scientific world, he was disappointed, although he had never lost hope and believed that he would see the greatness of his plan until the end of his days and enjoy the minute of glory. His aspirations were not destined to come true, and the tragedy of barren ambitions broke out in the peaceful interiors of village life. ”

As you can see, despite all the dramatic events that unfolded around the problem of the square of the circle, the legislative body of Indiana did not finally make a decision regarding the number of PI and such a law never acted and does not work.