The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.

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I don't see a problem with having younger students (4th-6th grade) treat pi as 3 or 3.2 for basic mathematical equations. Just be honest about it from the beginning. Say it is 'about 3'.
At that point they are going to be building isn't going to be drastically effected by a bit over 1/10th of a integer difference.

Once they get into 6th or 7th grade, then you can explain pi more fully. You aren't damaging them by this process and can teach caculating circumfrances and areas earlier without having to delve into complicated fractions. Just remember to stress that the answers are approximate, not exact.

Afterall, if you are cooking for instance and want to caculate how much baking dough the pot can hold those extra decimals aren't going to make any more difference than the fact that some of your dough is inevitably going to stick to the surface of whatever you are pouring it from and thus you won't be exact anyway.
Posted by Hebitsuikaza  on  Mon Mar 27, 2006  at  02:33 PM

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The debate about this joke is almost as funny as the joke itself. Just because some prankster called the "new" pi the "biblical pi" should not cause the Bible to be viewed as a math textbook. It does not say "We in Isreal have noticed a constant in all circles...that is 3". It just gives the dimensions of the bowl. To use this as an issue to either refute or substantiate faith is ridiculous.

I don't have a problem believing an ancient document's description of a ceremonial bowl. What I marvel at is the very existence of pi. It is absolute and eternal. It never changes and seemingly continues forever. I know it's hard for you post-modernists to grasp that there are actually abolutes. But try to look past the number of "pi" and consider the God that put such order in the universe. In some ways it is a stamp of His image (absolute and eternal).
Posted by David  on  Wed Mar 29, 2006  at  07:43 AM

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If the "concept" of intelligent design is any indication of how conservative christian thinking distorts reality, I wouldn't put this past them.
Posted by David Edwards  in  RICHFIELD, MN.  on  Sat Apr 01, 2006  at  03:10 PM

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madhatter, you are indeed way off. The bible says that the bowl was 10 cubits in diameter and 30 cubits in circumference. Cubits - or any other measurement of length ever used by humans for a significant amount of time - scale linearly (that is, A cubits + B cubits = (A+B) cubits). So such a bowl could not exist and be circular, as the circumference divided by the diameter is 3, which differs from pi by a significant amount.

(Note - I'm not saying this is an argument that the bible is rubbish or anything of that nature, measuring objects, especially curved objects, would not have been as easy thousands of years ago as it is now.)
Posted by Clipse  in  Illinois  on  Sat Apr 01, 2006  at  10:58 PM

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Hey, anyone ever see that episode of the Simpsons where the girls at the school for gifted kids have a patty-cake schoolyard chant with all the digits of pi? That's funny. They're funny.
Posted by You're all too way too serious to be reading an Ap  in  Mpls  on  Sun Apr 02, 2006  at  05:34 AM

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Mark Boslough is not a very intelligent man.

look up "barking dog" you will find references to his forced closure to public forrest roads in boulder county colorado, he uprooted over one hundred old growth trees and used heavy machinery to dig several large trenches to block a public forest road, later that same year a large forest fire occurred in the area but not near the road, if the fire had occurred within access from the road, Mark would have caused many more acres to burn because of his forced closure.

Please keep our public lands open so the PUBLIC can enjoy them!
Posted by Angry recreationalist  on  Sun Apr 02, 2006  at  10:46 AM

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Very funny. Is certainly up there with Nixon's
decision to run again. Omitted, however, the MENSA announcement that President Bush had an I.Q. of 236. Pressed by the White House Press Corps; he also admitted that he could converse directly with GOD, and would be remembered as the greatest President in history. Shortly afterward, Secretary Rice was seen exiting the Oval Office demanding that a dry cleaner, offering one hour service, pick up her skirtk, which had, somehow, picked up a stain.
Posted by SID WEITZ  on  Sun Apr 02, 2006  at  11:06 AM

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HAHAHA!!!! Good one.
Posted by Adrian  in  California  on  Mon Apr 03, 2006  at  01:58 PM

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I prefer 355/113 as a quick approximation.

Hm, so what shape would you have if you had a 10 unit "diameter" and a 30 unit perimeter, an ellipse? I've forgotten the formula for an ellipse...
Posted by hyc  in  California  on  Mon Apr 03, 2006  at  05:26 PM

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According to a fundamentalist Christian friend of mine, Billy Graham's imaginary god is going to strike me dead for making fun of Alabama lawmakers. He claims that the Alabama legislature's greater adherence to Christian doctrine, than to principles of science and to the articles of the U. S. Constitution, is necessary in order to protect the church from the onslaught of heretics like me.

Considering the fact that this silly little pretend God is going to strike me dead, sooner or later, anyway, I fail to perceive the threat. If anyone is able to explain to me what I am, obviously, failing to grasp, I would like to hear from them, as I have been told that my understanding all of this foolishness is essential to the preservation of my nonexistent, but everlasting, soul—whatever that is. David Edwards-
Posted by David Edwards  in  RICHFIELD, MN.  on  Fri Apr 07, 2006  at  10:06 AM

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Everyone has missed the fact that this whole thing, pretty much word-for-word, came from the book "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein. He wrote it in 1961.
Posted by Torch  in  Midwest America  on  Sun Apr 09, 2006  at  07:07 PM

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TO TORCH: What whole thing? Your lack of specificity, necessarily, leaves one wondering what you are talking about; if, in fact, you are talking about anything, at all. Is it possible that everything reminds you of Mr. Heinlein’s book?
Posted by David Edwards  in  RICHFIELD, MN.  on  Sun Apr 09, 2006  at  07:40 PM

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I was referring to the hoax that these comments are supposedly about, not your nonsensical rantings about who knows what.

In the book, there is a newcaster that breaks a story about the state of Alabama passing a law that changes pi to the number 3.
Posted by Torch  in  Midwest America  on  Tue Apr 11, 2006  at  12:34 AM

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It would have been helpful if you had said that, in the first place.
Posted by David Edwards  in  RICHFIELD, MN.  on  Tue Apr 11, 2006  at  03:19 AM

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Hey "Angry Recreationalist"! What does your post have to do with PI? Your search term turns up a few environmentalist web sites. They dispute your version of the story. Why would conservation groups so strongly support somebody who did what you allege? Oh wait a minute. Was your post supposed to be an April Fool's joke?!



Here are some URLs about RS 2477, a repealed law that Angry Recreationalists all over the west are trying to use to create new roads:

http://www.southernrockies.org/rs2477/property.htm

http://www.rs2477roads.org/documents/Private_Property_examples.pdf

http://www.law.du.edu/rmlui/Publications/Type/04 CDs/CD04Materials/0408TheRoad.pdf
Posted by RS2477  in  Colorado  on  Thu Jun 08, 2006  at  06:43 PM

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Why is everyone arguing about what is right and what is wrong? Does it really matter? For all intents and purposes, we could all be wrong. The problem is everyone thinks that they are right and everyone else who doesn't share their views is wrong. That just goes to show you the ignorance of mankind.
Posted by Confused  on  Tue Jun 27, 2006  at  12:50 PM

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TO CONFUSED: RIGHT OR WRONG ABOUT WHAT; YOU REALLY DO SEEM CONFUSED!
Posted by David Edwards  in  MINNESOTA.  on  Tue Jun 27, 2006  at  02:24 PM

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Ok, lots of the people that have left comments on here so far are math teachers, engineers or possess some type of intellectual knowledge of math, and or science. Myself on the other hand, am only a high school student who (quite like a nerd, I must admit...kidding) has memorized pi to the hundredth decimal place, making 101 digits. Hard to fathom, I realize. (kidding again) All kidding aside, moral of the story, you don't even have to obtain a vast understanding of math or any subject to know that pi cannot be changed! Duh!
Posted by Laura  on  Tue Nov 28, 2006  at  01:43 PM

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Wait...WAS this an April Fools joke...I saw someone above ask that, and it made me wonder...
Posted by Laura Andy  on  Tue Nov 28, 2006  at  01:44 PM

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It is interesting that during the reign of George W. Bush, the poorest and most ignorant states seem to be setting the national agenda. I doubt if you could find a legislator in Alabama who knew what Pi was. In Kansas, you can't teach evolution. In Mississippi its illegal to teach about poverty in the public schools. Red States all.
Posted by geocam  in  columbus, oh  on  Sun Apr 01, 2007  at  11:38 AM

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