5 ms·
Clearly the idea of pi and tau are both wrong, since they make the 2d circle the reference instead of the 1d circle. Notice the formula for the volume of an n-b
by thomasahle 13y ago
Clearly the idea of pi and tau are both wrong, since they make the 2d circle the reference instead of the 1d circle.
Notice the formula for the volume of an n-ball is proportional to pi^(n/2)r^n! Define tau properly, and could become (tau r)^n!!
Also notice how many other cases outside of 2d geometry uses sqrt(pi) or sqrt(2pi). The gamma function, normal distribution, stirling approximation etc. are all full of it, and when you rarely need pi or tau, adding a ^2 is much nicer than always having to draw a big ugly sqrt.
I don't mind tau especially, but it is seems the wrong battle to fight. Sqrt(pi) also has mythical powers: http://www.squarerootofpi.com/ http://www.squarerootofpi.com/
- merlincorey 13y agoI'm not against being open to things like ancient aliens, but I think the fact that squarerootofpi references that and astrology, etc puts it on completely different footing from tau, which the post we are discussing right now mentions being included in programming languages and scientific papers. [edit: obviously this says nothing about square root of half tau and its uses!] I put tau into my math-related code last year, and I have enjoyed the results (which are much the same as before, of course).
- saalweachter 13y agoThat is not entirely correct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-sphere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-sphere All N-sphere volume formulas have whole-powers of 'pi' (or 'tau') as factors
- mhartl 13y agoYou should read http://tauday.com/tau-manifesto#sec-getting_to_the_bottom_of_pi http://tauday.com/tau-manifesto#sec-getting_to_the_bottom_of... which goes into great detail on surface areas and volumes of hyperspheres. Spoiler alert: it's actually pi/2 = tau/4 that emerges victorious.