The usually told story involves Indiana around the turn of the century.
However, the bill was stopped after passing only one of the 2 chambers of
their legislature. Nor did it give a value of 3 - in fact the implied value
was different in different places of the bill (which was filled with a
variety of nonsense about squaring the circle, trisecting the angle, etc.).
This story is told in a moderately interesting book by Petr Beckmann I just
finished reading, called something like "The History of Pi." You can also
find the story (and the text of the bill, I think) on a pi-devoted WWW page
at: http://www.ts.umu.se/~olletg/pi/tribute.html.
Now that I've made my first post, I might as well introduce myself. My name
is Allan Harvey, and I am a chemical engineer (or chemical physicist,
depending on what day you ask) working at NIST in Boulder. Some of you may
have seen me on Steve Schimmrich's Science and Christianity mailing list,
where I am somewhat of a regular.
I only recently joined ASA. My initial reaction to the most recent issue of
Perspectives was "Don't they have better things to do than endlessly talk
about origins?" But then I saw the editorial about the moratorium, and was
encouraged.
If such categories matter, I am firmly old-Earth and am an agnostic with
regard to how much use God made of "evolutionary" processes in bringing life
to its current state. If I have a personal mission in this area, I see it
as countering the twin myths: a) Christianity is only for ignorant people.
and b) Science is an enemy of the faith. And trying to heal the false
science vs. faith dichotomies that give rise to such myths.
I look forward to interesting discussions that will help us to better serve
our Lord in our workplaces, churches, and wherever the opportunity arises.
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| Dr. Allan H. Harvey | aharvey@boulder.nist.gov |
| Thermophysics Division | Phone: (303)497-3555 |
| National Institute of Standards & Technology | Fax: (303)497-5224 |
| 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303 | |
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| "Don't blame the government for what I say, or vice versa." |
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