'On Pi is wrong, and the Tauist Movement'
$ \pi $ is perhaps the most well known mathematical constant in the world, and its significance in mathematics cannot be overstated. $ \pi $ has been thoroughly studied by the most brilliant minds in the history of mathematics, is part of the most elementary mathematics education for the young students, and now is under attack by growing number of scientists who think that this magnificent constant is wrong.
Well, not really- $ \pi $ is still a transcendental number with decimal value 3.14159…. What is wrong is its undeserved adulation and sanctity. The constant deserving the glory, according to Bob Palais, professor at University of Utah and the author of the much discussed paper “Pi is wrong”, is $ \tau $.
The call for $ \tau $ stems from the following notes:
Geometrically, $ \pi $ is ratio of circle’s circumference to its diameter. This is, in mathematician’s sense, unnatural – it is with radius, not diameter, that we define circles with. Thus, $ circumference/radius $ = $ 2\pi $ = $ \tau $. This renders simpler formula for the circumference, namely $ Circumference = r\tau $.
