PI and the Talmud
Jason Filley jfilley@primary.net
Thu, 22 Oct 1998 22:55:09 -0500 (00909132909, 362FFE1D.67B5F1D6@primary.net)
> >CREA
> > Beckmann (curse him!) fails to give a reference to any specific location
> >in the Talmud for his citation. However his citation occurs on page 15 of
> >his __History of Pi__ (St. Martin's Press/Golem Press, 1971, ISBN
> >0-312-38185-9) where he says [referring to the molten sea description at 1
> >Kings 7:23 & 2 Chronicles 4:2]:
> >
> >
> > "The Book of Kings was edited by the ancient Jews as a religious work
> >around 550 B.C., but its sources date back several centuries. At that time,
> >pi was already known to a considerably better accuracy, but evidently not to
> >the editors of the Bible. The Jewish Talmud, which is essentially a
> >commentary on the Old Testament, was published [!] about 500 A.D. Even at
> >this late date it also states "that which in circumference is three hands
> >broad is one hand broad".
> >
> >CREA
> > More ammunition for the continuing battle, Farrell?
> >
>
> TILL
> Doesn't it annoy the hell out of you when a writer does this? Here is a
> valuable quotation (if it is true), but it is unusable until the primary
> source is known.
>
JASON
Bored web browsing........
From: http://www.virtual.co.il/channels/torah/rkornfeld/parsha.htm
Much more on PI and the Talmud than this snip:
One Talmudist and mathemetician, Matityahu ha'Kohen Munk
(Frankfurt-London, in "Sinai," Tamuz 1962, and "ha'Darom," 1967) pointed
out that there is actually a hint in the verse that discusses the basin
of King Solomon to the inexactitude of the Talmudic calculation for the
diameter of a circle and to a closer approximation for pi. The verse
(Melachim I 7:23) that the Gemara cites discussing the basin built by
King Solomon states that the basin was 10 Amot wide, and a line ("Kav")
of 30 Amot encircled it. According to the Mesorah, the word "Kav,"
meaning line, is pronounced differently than it is spelled. Instead of
being spelled, as usual, "Kuf, Vav," it is spelled "Kuf, Vav, *Heh*"
(that is, a silent Heh is added which is not prounounced). The Gematria
(a system for assigning numerical values to Hebrew letters) of the word
"Kav" is 106, while the Gematria of the word "Kaveh" is 111. Perhaps the
point of this Masoretic anomaly is to hint that the line ("Kav")
measuring the circumference of the basin was not really
exactly 30 Amot. Rather, the measurement given in Melachim is slightly
off, by a ratio of 106 to 111 (Kuf-Vav:Kuf-Vav-Heh).
This value is an extremely close representation of the
real value for pi (106/111 = 3/ 3.1415094, which is
accurate to within .00001 of pi)!
'Night,
Jason