The mystery of pi.

Here is the answer.  en.wikipedia.org/.../Proof_that_pi_is_irrational

And if people can't follow the maths.  Tough. You need to go back to school.

The geometric interpretation is easy.  You take a perfect circle,  measure the circumference and the diameter.

PI = Circumference/ Diameter

Since all perfect circles are similar.  This ratio is always the same for all different sized circles.

Yes, I know it's the Circumference/Diameter but why should it be irrational?

Thanks for the Wiki link but it's way above my head, I'm afaid.

Historically people have been obsessed for thousands of years trying to find the exact value of pi.  Until it was proved irrational in the 18th century.  Very few people can follow the proof.  Part of the fascination is that it is so easy to define. But the exact value is unknown. 

A similar problem is that the square root of 2 is irrational.   The ancient Greeks found a proof and it became a closely guarded secret, punishable by death if disclosed to outsiders.

Historically people have been obsessed for thousands of years trying to find the exact value of pi.  Until it was proved irrational in the 18th century.  Very few people can follow the proof.  Part of the fascination is that it is so easy to define. But the exact value is unknown. 

A similar problem is that the square root of 2 is irrational.   The ancient Greeks found a proof and it became a closely guarded secret, punishable by death if disclosed to outsiders.

I was thinking about what a circle really is and isn't it fair to say any circle is essentially made up of innumerable straight lines?!

So, there can never be a "perfect" circle since you can always refine it endlessly. Therefore,  on the one hand you have the diameter, which can be represented as a whole number, but then you're trying to divide something that is not fixed (the circumference) by something that is (the diameter), and maybe this is the fundamental problem?

Just adding a bit more context to the last sentence:

"Hippasus of Metapontum (flourished c. 500 bc) was a philosopher and an early follower of Pythagoras. He was coupled by Aristotle with Heraclitus in identifying fire as the first element in the universe. Some traditions say that he was drowned after revealing a mathematical secret of the Pythagorean brotherhood."

(The secret was the irrationality of 2, of which they were embarrased.)

This was derived or understood from Pythagoras's theorem.

www.britannica.com/.../Hippasus-of-Metapontum