| A socially inept cubicle worker becomes obsessed with making sense of the controversial Biblical passage (I Kings 7:23-26) which many interpret as claiming that the value of π is exactly three (therefore serving as a counterexample to its claims of infallibility). His desire to demonstrate that God was right to say that π=3 becomes intertwined with his desire to show up his co-workers and impress the girl of his dreams, but it is the auto-mechanic fixing his car who inadvertently helps him (or pushes him over the edge) to realize the "truth" of a more divine circle. There are some entertaining (though, of course, nonsensical) mathematical musings along the way as he ponders how the new value of π would change geometry and trig functions.
Published in the anthology Gods and Monsters. More information is also available at the author's website.
(Although it is quite different in nature, I would like to point out that there is a numenistic discovery involving π also in Carl Sagan's novel Contact.) |
