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Mangesh Hattikudur
The Indiana Pi Bill (Thank you Caitlin!)
by Mangesh Hattikudur - February 21, 2008 - 10:12 AM

This is one of my favorite state facts ever, and I’m thrilled someone inserted it into the Amazing Fact Generator. Remember, if you submit a fact we end up using, your name will be credited for as long as the generator is around (we’re guessing that means forever).

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n.b. We know the generator always kicks off with a certain fact about a certain Asian country and its preference for high fidelity… we’ll have that fixed by the end of the week!

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Comments (11)

  1. I think the fact that Caitlin – being a citizen of Indiana – was brave enough to post such an embarrassing fact about her state is a credit to her integrity and character. Bravo!

    posted by Ira on 2-21-2008 at 10:33 am

  2. I wonder if the fact generator always starts with the last fact that was added…I never knew the fact made it to the generator! Yippie!

    posted by septer on 2-21-2008 at 10:57 am

  3. I don’t know if this should be called a fact… this story started out being in Alabama, and they wanted it to be equal to 3. Now it’s in Indiana and 3.2?

    See Snopes.com, search for “pi”, will not let me post a link to the article.

    posted by kdub on 2-21-2008 at 11:09 am

  4. Actually, if you look a little more closely at the snopes.com page, it says that while the AL case was false, the idea’s based on the very real Indiana bill that failed in the state senate in the 1890s.

    posted by Mangesh on 2-21-2008 at 11:25 am

  5. The mention of PI and the fact that I am currently reading this book by Dr.Sacks about neurological disorders, reminded me of a book I read last year, ‘Born on a Blue Day’ by Daniel Tammet. I was fascinated by how Daniel sees numbers as colors. He painted a picture of PI as he sees it. You can see it here –
    www(dot)optimnem(dot)co(dot)uk /artwork(dot)php
    Another cool fact – Russian composer Nikolai Korsakov had synesthesia and saw notes as different colors.

    Sorry for going on tangents here!

    posted by septer on 2-21-2008 at 11:30 am

  6. Reminds me of a story (probably just an urban legend) of a bill introduced in the early 20th C Mississipi or Alabama legistlature to repeal the law of gravity. The story has it that it only failed by one vote. Gotta wonder what’d have happened if it passed….

    Haven’t Wiki’d this one yet but am headed there soon.

    posted by Doc on 2-21-2008 at 12:21 pm

  7. Well, Hurray for Purdue and that professor… I’m from IN…but a Purdue alum so I feel somewhat vindicated! haha

    posted by ann on 2-21-2008 at 2:16 pm

  8. Yay for Purdue. Although I’m a current LA student there/here. . . I still appreciate the effort to keep pi true!

    posted by Meg on 2-21-2008 at 3:51 pm

  9. You need a slight technical fix here. “…as opposed to its truly infinite value” is incorrect. It does not have an infinite value but an infinite decimal expansion.

    posted by mc112358 on 2-21-2008 at 5:06 pm

  10. Unfortunately, it is not an urban legend. I there a chapter on it in Petr Beckmann’s book “A History of Pi” (Now, let’s all just pretend that I’m not a super geek for owning this book)

    posted by Maggie on 2-21-2008 at 6:47 pm

  11. 1) I am now very ashamed of my state
    2) I knew there was a reason I liked Purdue!

    posted by Korin on 2-22-2008 at 1:39 pm

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