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Why aren’t the basic laws of mathematics clean round numbers? Why are pi and e irrational? What secret is hidden down in the depths of these numbers?
It seems to me that the concept the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the radius is a finite value. It's cool that it turns out to be an irrational number for us but I think that's more a statement of how we handle math than some mystical thing.
So, it would be "fixed" if we based or math around these numbers? Like, a new numeral system where 3 = pi?
Isn't nature lazy? Like everything is in search of equilibrium and once its optimized, saul goodman
There a infinitely more irrational numbers than rational numbers, so if one were to search for a special number like π or e, they are more likely to find them to be irrational than rational. It would be instance coincidence if those numbers would be something nice and even. And since almost everything in math is derived from either π or e and you can't simply divide or multiply away irrationality (except with another irrational number) this irrationality tends to stick around. We essentialy have a π centric number system inside the decimal system, that's why π gets its own symbol. No mathematician ever writes out π as a 3.1415...., so for all that matters the symbol π is nice and even.