The Circle of Life
What Pi Tells Us About Life
The mathematical concept of “pi” defines a very important geometric concept: the ratio of circumference of a circle to its diameter will always be the same and that ratio will always be equal to pi. The enormity of the significance of this constant struck me shamefully belatedly and fairly recently when I was reading about Indian mathematician Bhaskaracharya II’s history. I was in particular curious about the bond he shared with his daughter on whose name he titled his most famous mathematics textbook, “Lilavati” and wanted to read more about their relationship. Bhaskaracharya II, other than being a very good father to Lilavati, was also one of the few mathematicians in the world who attempted to discover the most accurate value of pi for enhancing calculations.
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Although the initial attempts to discover the value of pi were made by Egyptians and Babylonians in around 250 BCE, the subject of estimating the accurate value of pi has been of interest for several mathematicians in China and India over the millennia. Bhsakaracahrya II and Aryabhatta were among the few mathematicians who attempted to find this value. The former provided two values of pi: 22/7 for practical calculations and a more accurate value of 3927/1250 for astronomical calculations.
What is interesting about pi is that although it has a fixed value, its decimal representation is infinite and non-repeating. This has a very eerie and unsettling implication. What pi is telling us is that the relationship between a circle’s circumference with its diameter is fixed and will always be fixed; it is preordained by universal laws. It is also revealing that this relationship, despite being fixed, is infinite and non-repeating. When we look at a circle we see something solid and dependable, finite and tangible and yet, dividing the circumference of any circle with its diameter will yield something infinite, unpredictable and intangible.
What is even more perplexing is that this constant value holds true for any circle made anywhere in the universe, making pi a universal truth akin to the speed of light. The way the speed of light remains the same anywhere, any-when and anyhow in the universe, so does the value of pi and so does the relationship that the circumference of a circle share with its diameter. This universe is made up of patterns that the human mind is obsessed with and capable of decoding. One such pattern gets revealed through pi.
What does this infinitude of pi tell us about the universe? Probably something that ancient beings who walked on this planet had already hinted at: that this universe is infinite, multitudinous and continuous, but also constant.
