What about me, e!?!?

[Matt Agajanian]

Hi all. Why should Π (pi) get all the attention?! Any books about e or ϕ. If the golden ratio’s so golden, why isn’t it more popular?

[rprosperi]

There are several I've seen, probably many are out there.

Here's one:

e: The Story of a Number

[Paul Dale]

2.2195....

[carey]

(02-27-2024 01:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Why should Π (pi) get all the attention?!

Hmm...maybe because it's simply the ratio of the distance around a circle divided by the distance through the circle (via its center), so has obvious everyday applications. The fact that it shows up everywhere in mathematics doesn't hurt, and was the inspiration for Eugene Wigner's famous paper "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of mathematics in the Natural Sciences."

(02-27-2024 01:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Any books about e or ϕ.

Too many to list, but the book mentioned by Bob and books by Julian Havil and Mario Livio are good places to start.

(02-27-2024 01:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  If the golden ratio’s so golden, why isn’t it more popular?

From ChatGPT: "Therefore, a very rough estimate would suggest that there are at least several thousand academic papers and probably over a thousand books dedicated to exploring, discussing, or mentioning the golden ratio."

[ijabbott]

(02-27-2024 01:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Hi all. Why should Π (pi) get all the attention?! Any books about e or ϕ. If the golden ratio’s so golden, why isn’t it more popular?

Well, π and e are intimately related by Euler's identity, so one of them (take your pick) is redundant.

[KeithB]

(02-27-2024 08:18 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  

(02-27-2024 01:01 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Hi all. Why should Π (pi) get all the attention?! Any books about e or ϕ. If the golden ratio’s so golden, why isn’t it more popular?

Well, π and e are intimately related by Euler's identity, so one of them (take your pick) is redundant.

I say make i redundant!

[KeithB]

i would be ln(-1)/pi.

You can calculate it on the HP71 with a MathPac:
log((-1,0))/(pi,0) => (0,1)

[Matt Agajanian]

(02-27-2024 05:31 PM)KeithB Wrote:  i would be ln(-1)/pi.

You can calculate it on the HP71 with a MathPac:
log((-1,0))/(pi,0) => (0,1)

Nice that the 42S is cool with complex numbers. Even better that its complex number function library is quite broad. Not just and only the four-banger functions.