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Happy Tau Day!

Started by Josquius, June 28, 2011, 04:11:35 PM

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Josquius

June 28, 2011, 04:11:35 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13906169

Quote

The mathematical constant pi is under threat from a group of detractors who will be marking "Tau Day" on Tuesday.

Tau Day revellers suggest a constant called tau should take its place: twice as large as pi, or about 6.28 - hence the 28 June celebration.

Tau proponents say that for many problems in maths, tau makes more sense and makes calculations easier.

Not all fans of maths agree, however, and pi's rich history means it will be a difficult number to unseat.

"I like to describe myself as the world's leading anti-pi propagandist," said Michael Hartl, an educator and former theoretical physicist.

"When I say pi is wrong, it doesn't have any flaws in its definition - it is what you think it is, a ratio of circumference to diameter. But circles are not about diameters, they're about radii; circles are the set of all the points a given distance - a radius - from the centre," Dr Hartl explained to BBC News.

By defining pi in terms of diameter, he said, "what you're really doing is defining it as the ratio of the circumference to twice the radius, and that factor of two haunts you throughout mathematics."

The discrepancy is most noticeable when circles are defined not as a number of degrees, but as what are known as radians - of which there are two times pi in a full circle. With tau, half a circle is one-half tau.

Dr Hartl reckons people still use degrees as a measure of angle because pi's involvement in radians makes them too unwieldy.

He credits Bob Palais of the University of Utah with first pointing out that "pi is wrong", in a 2001 article in the Mathematical Intelligencer.

But it is Dr Hartl who is responsible for the Tau Manifesto - calling tau the more convenient formulation and instituting Tau Day to celebrate it.

Kevin Houston, a mathematician from the University of Leeds, counts himself as a convert.

"It was one of the weirdest things I'd come across, but it makes sense," he told BBC News.

"It's surprising people haven't changed before. Almost anything you can do in maths with pi you can do with tau anyway, but when it comes to using pi versus tau, tau wins - it's much more natural."

Dr Hartl is passionate about the effort, but even he is surprised by the fervent nature of some tau adherents.

"What's amazing is the 'conversion experience': people find themselves almost violently angry at pi. They feel like they've been lied to their whole lives, so it's amazing how many people express their displeasure with pi in the strongest possible terms - often involving profanity.

"I don't condone any actual violence - that would be really bizarre, wouldn't it?"

This raised serious WTFs when I saw it on the news.
Strange stuff.
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The Brain

#1
June 28, 2011, 04:39:17 PM
Not strange. It's just stupid people doing their thing.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

CountDeMoney

#2
June 28, 2011, 04:53:33 PM
"Maths"?  Whats the fucks?

Eddie Teach

#3
June 28, 2011, 04:54:08 PM
Is it really so hard to multiply/divide by 2 or 4 where needed?  :rolleyes:
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

DontSayBanana

#4
June 28, 2011, 06:05:12 PM
Bull; if there's a two in the calculation, it isn't eliminated, just moved somewhere else.  Area of a circle goes from (pi) * (r2) to 1/2 * (tau) * (r2), and they're worried about pi being clunky?

These morons apparently haven't gotten the memo that pi's more easily calculated as 22/7...
Experience bij!

jimmy olsen

#5
June 28, 2011, 06:32:08 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on June 28, 2011, 04:53:33 PM
"Maths"?  Whats the fucks?
No shit! :bleeding:
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

jimmy olsen

#6
June 28, 2011, 08:57:55 PM
Anyways, I thought this was going to be about something else.

It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Razgovory

#7
June 28, 2011, 09:07:26 PM
Oh shut the fuck up.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

viper37

#8
June 28, 2011, 09:10:31 PM
geek.

:P
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

jimmy olsen

#9
June 29, 2011, 12:39:35 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on June 28, 2011, 09:07:26 PM
Oh shut the fuck up.
No. I know plenty of folks on this board like Warhammer 40K
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Martim Silva

#10
June 29, 2011, 10:46:45 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 29, 2011, 12:39:35 AM
No. I know plenty of folks on this board like Warhammer 40K

Ed Anger

#11
June 29, 2011, 10:48:43 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on June 28, 2011, 09:07:26 PM
Oh shut the fuck up.

Good lad. Fight the Timmay nerd menace in every thread.
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

KRonn

#12
June 29, 2011, 11:31:37 AM
I don't know if this new pi idea really adds up...   :hmm:

DGuller

#13
June 29, 2011, 03:52:35 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on June 28, 2011, 06:05:12 PM
Bull; if there's a two in the calculation, it isn't eliminated, just moved somewhere else.  Area of a circle goes from (pi) * (r2) to 1/2 * (tau) * (r2), and they're worried about pi being clunky?

These morons apparently haven't gotten the memo that pi's more easily calculated as 22/7...
Yeah, but 1/2 * k * quantity squared is a very common form.  A lot of quantities that result from integration look like that.  Kinetic energy, for example.  It does seem like using pi is like using a QWERTY keyboard.

Maximus

#14
June 29, 2011, 03:56:52 PM
Quote from: DGuller on June 29, 2011, 03:52:35 PM
Yeah, but 1/2 * k * quantity squared is a very common form.  A lot of quantities that result from integration look like that.  Kinetic energy, for example.  It does seem like using pi is like using a QWERTY keyboard.
It's a common energy formula. I'm not sure why the area of a circle should look like an energy formula.
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