Robert Palais wrote:
> Thanks, good suggestion! Don Tucker pointed out the stability of a
> three-legged stool. It has to be one-syllable, though tri does
> have a certain "3"-ness to it.
Right on! It sure does, even more, "tri" is how number 3 is pronounced in
many Slavic languages. You would sure produce a lot of jokes, let alone
confusion. Like III/2 r^2 when spoken would be heard like 3/2 r^2... And
it's not even a good approximation since tri is close to 6, not to 3...
I suppose "newpi" is not bad at all. Eventually, as it becomes widely used,
the people will drop the "new" part themselves (well, let's hope they won't
drop the "pi":).
> I'd be curious if you disagree with the thesis that a symbol for
> 6.28 has scientific/mathematical merit (in comparison
> 3.14...), and if so
> why?
3.14... is to a circle what 4 is to a square. It is the relationship between
the diameter and the circumference. The fact that the number 2 appears in
many formulas does not make it bad. I even welcome it, because 2 pi is
something that stands out and immediately suggests circles and angles. You
can call it inertia, but you have to agree that "2x" is more special than
"Y". Well, it is to me anyway.
Anyway, good luck with the newpi efforts, and .... may the best pi win! ;)
Lars
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