Zu Chongzhi calculates pi
Pi to seven decimals, a record for nearly 900 years
By inscribing a polygon with 24,576 sides in a circle, the mathematician Zu Chongzhi found that pi lies between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927. Nobody calculated it more precisely for nearly 900 years.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 5th century
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The fraction 355/113 gives pi correct to six decimal places, and China had it 1,100 years before Europe. Zu Chongzhi found it in the 5th century; in Europe the Dutchman Adriaan Anthonisz arrived at it only in 1585. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 476 Fall of the Western Roman Empire — 4 years earlier
- c. 496 Baptism of Clovis — 16 years later
Middle East
- c. 500 Completion of the Babylonian Talmud — 20 years later
Africa
- c. 500 Austronesian settlement of Madagascar — 20 years later
Americas
- c. 500 Rise of Tiwanaku — 20 years later