Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Tau Manifesto

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The Tau Manifesto

Michael Hartl, Mar 14, 2016

OK, I'm no mathematician. But this article has me convinced. "Pi (π) is a pedagogical disaster. Try explaining to a twelve-year-old (or to a thirty-year-old) why the angle measure for an eighth of a circle—one slice of pizza—is π/8. Wait, I meant π/4. See what I mean? It's madness—sheer, unadulterated madness." The author proposes instead that we use Tau (τ) which has the value 2π, or 6.283185307179586… It creates a lot more symmetry in formulae across a range of mathematics. That, by the way, would make Tau Day (to Americans, at least) June 28.

Today: 1 Total: 134 [Direct link] [Share]

Image from the website
View full size


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Nov 25, 2024 01:13 a.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes