Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: bnr-fos!bnr-public!davem@watmath.waterloo.edu (Dave Mielke) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: PI in the Bible? Message-ID: Date: 4 Jul 89 08:00:27 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada Lines: 19 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article bcsaic!douglas@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Douglas Schuler) writes: >I have read somewhere that 3 is given somewhere in the Bible >(the old testament as a matter of fact) as the value of pi. Speaking of Solomon constructing the temple, 1 Kings 7:23 tell us "And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: {it was} round all about, and his height {was} five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.". It is important to note that the term "round" does not necessarily mean a precise circle. One might easily also call an elipse round. A circle is merely a special case of an elipse where both focal points are in the same place. The largest ratio of circumference to diameter for an elipse is PI and the smallest ratio is 2. The value 3 does, in fact, fall between these two bounds. Dave Mielke, 613-726-0014 856 Grenon Avenue Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 6G3