Mathematical Problem
The biblical description that the bowl has a diameter of 10 cubits and a circumference of 30 cubits suggest that the Bible defines pi as equal to 3, rather than the correct value of approximately 3.14159. Rabbi Nehemiah argues that the Bible is not claiming that pi equals 3. Instead, Nehemiah argues that the diameter was measure to the outside, while the circumference was measure along the inside. After accounting for the width of the brim, this results in the correct value of pi.
Read more about this topic: Molten Sea
Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or problem:
“All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us.... This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is obvious in that no one’s brain rejects it; for laymen and people who are utterly illiterate know how to count and reckon.”
—Roger Bacon (c. 1214–c. 1294)
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)