van Ceulen

Ludolph van Ceulen

Born: 28 Jan 1540 in Hildesheim, Germany
Died: 31 Dec 1610 in Leiden, Netherlands

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Van Ceulen is famed for his calculation of pi to 35 places which he did using polygons with 2^6^2 sides. He spent most of his life doing this and it is fitting that the 35 places of pi are engraved on his tombstone.

In Germany pi was called the Ludolphine number for a long time.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about approximations for pi

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. H Bosmans, Ludolphe van Ceulen, Mathésis. Recueil mathématique à l'usage des écoles spéciales (Ghent) 39 (1925), 352-360. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996