Pi has lately turned up in super-strings, the hypothetical loops of energy vibrating inside subatomic particles. The double helix of DNA revolves around π. Pi can be found in waves and ripples and spectra of all kinds and, therefore, π occurs in colors and music. Pi hides in the rainbow, and sits in the pupil of the eye, and when a raindrop falls into water π emerges in the spreading rings. It keeps on popping up inside as well as outside the scientific community, for example, in many formulas in geometry and trigonometry, physics, complex analysis, cosmology, number theory, general relativity, navigation, genetic engineering, statistics, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism. Its appearance in the disks of the Moon and the Sun, makes it as one of the most ancient numbers known to humanity. Since the exact date of birth of π is unknown, one could imagine that π existed before the universe came into being and will exist after the universe is gone. It is written as pi or as π, symbolically, and defined as In fact, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle produces, the most famous/studied/unlimited praised/intriguing/ubiquitous/external/mysterious mathematical number known to the human race. Whether the circle is gigantic, with large circumference and large diameter, or minute, with tiny circumference and tiny diameter, the relative size of circumference to diameter will be exactly the same. Behind this unexciting observation, however, lies a profound fact of mathematics: that the ratio of circumference to diameter is the same for one circle as for another. We can easily imagine tall narrow rectangles or tall narrow people, but a tall narrow circle is not a circle at all. Before dismissing this as an utterly trivial observation, we note by way of contrast that not all triangles have the same shape, nor all rectangles, nor all people. Mathematicians say that all circles are similar. Some circles may be large and some small, but their ‘circleness’, their perfect roundness, is immediately evident. Combined with his own intelligence and creativity, he went on to impact the lives of thousands, from sailors to academics, with his scientific theories and inventions.All circles have the same shape, and traditionally represent the infinite, immeasurable and even spiritual world. ![]() ![]() With influence and encouragement from other well-known scholars, like French polymath Marin Mersenne and mathematician René Descartes, Huygens leveraged his wealthy middle-class upbringing to learn and develop his own ideas based on the teachings of some of the greatest mind of his time. These actions ultimately led to a life of experimentation and observation across multiple scientific disciplines. Huygens's creative and scientific processes were intertwined from an early age through simple actions like throwing a rock into the water and watching the emanating pattern of waves and playing with windmills. His role in scientific history touches everything from what we now understand about the theory of light waves in three dimensions, to the concept of centrifugal force, to even basic things that are now learned in elementary school classes, such as astronomy behind the rings of Saturn. Christiaan Huygens played an essential role in some of the most incredible discoveries in math, astronomy and physics.
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