Re: Theta vs. Phi

Bill Payne (bpayne@voyageronline.net)
Mon, 03 Aug 1998 21:40:58 -0600

Brendan Frost wrote:

> P.S. for Bible infallibilistes---where does the Bible
> give its notoriously incorrect definition of pi as 3?
> An orders-of-magnitude worse estimate than the
> Bablyonian value of 1,000 yrs previous....

"He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits
from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits
to measure around it." (1 Kings 7:23)

Rather than being a definition of pi, the ten-cubit dimension is an
inside diameter, and the circumference is around the outside. The
~1-inch thickness of the basin wall makes the difference.

Bill Payne