On Wed, 28 Feb 2001 Dawsonzhu@aol.com wrote:
> It is exactly this "book of facts" view that gets me into
> quibbles with athiests about why pi = 3 in the Bible.
The verses on which this claim are based are I Kings 7:23 and II
Chronicles 4:2. The reasoning assumes that the diameter and circumference
mentioned are of the same circle. However three verses later in both
passages a thickness is given. This is such that if the diameter is taken
to be the outer diameter and the circumference the inner circumference,
the computed value of pi is a good enough approximation for the people of
that day to accept both the diameter and circumference as being
sufficiently accurate measurements.
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395
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