by forwardslash

The Tau Manifesto is dedicated to one of the most important numbers in mathematics, perhaps the most important: the circle constant relating the circumference of a circle to its linear dimension. For millennia, the circle has been considered the most perfect of shapes, and the circle constant captures the geometry of the circle in a single number. Of course, the traditional choice for the circle constant is π—but, as mathematician Bob Palais notes in his delightful article “π Is Wrong!”, π is wrong. It’s time to set things right.

Whenever someone talks about tau they seem - to me - to be rather pretentious, as if pi's value as a nerdy concept has been inflated by it being too 'mainstream'. Nonetheless, it is interesting.