computer science
march 2015
image sources
MathHombre.com
LifeScience.com
The Pi Manifesto
19
Replacing pi with tau would make the fundamental concepts of trigonometry much easier. Take the unit circle as an example. Going one third around the unit circle would be ⅔ π radians and going three quarters around the unit circle would be 1 ½π radians. To a trig student first learning such concepts, it can be very, very confusing. However, if tau replaces pi, one third of the unit circle would be ⅓ τ radians and three quarters of the unit circle would be ¾τ radians. Thus learning the unit circle, which is a key concept in trigonometry and the advanced mathematics that follows, will become much simpler and less confusing. Putting this in simpler terms, pi refers to a semicircle, while tau refers to the whole circle. Tauists, or the supporters of tau, see pi as an ancient accident and as the mathematical equivalent of the word “um” in a Shakespearean monologue. They clump it with the cluttered American system of Fahrenheit and miles. The historical accident, they claim, is due to the fact that it is much easier to measure a diameter of a circle than its radius. The Babylonians referred to pi because at the time it was more accurate than having to measure or estimate the radius of a circle.
So will all the school’s textbooks replace pi with tau? Probably not in the near future. However, the tau movement is gaining momentum, and pretty soon the world will have to find a new pastry to celebrate with on Tau Day (June 28).
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source
Scientific American