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Topic: Pi
General Purpose: to inform
Specific Purpose: to inform my audience about the nature of pi.
Thesis/Central Idea: I plan to inform you what pi is, the history of pi and how pi has
created obsessions in people’s lives.
Introduction:
Body:
Transition: Although 206 billion digits have been calculated thus far, there was a time
in antiquity when there was uncertainty of the second decimal place.
II. Woven among pi’s infinite digits is a rich history, ranging from the great
thinkers of ancient cultures to the supercomputers of the twentieth century.
A. Four thousand years ago, there was no decimal system, compass, paper or
pencil, yet people still found ways to calculate pi.
1. The Egyptians used a stake, a rope and the sand to approximate
pi as a little greater than 3.
2. The Greeks, Babylonians, Israelites, Chinese and Mesopotamians
also studied the circle ratio, yet none of them were certain of the
third decimal place.
B. Whether pi is an infinite number remained a mystery until the sixteenth
century.
1. Petr Beckman, a former professor of engineering at Colorado
University, likes to call this period the age of digit hunters, with
each generation popping out more digits than the next.
(Beckman 13)
2. Keep in mind that at this point the electronic had not yet been
invented.
3. Famous mathematicians of the time continued to break records
for calculating pi.
C. In the twentieth century, the invention of the computer allowed
mathematicians to calculate pi to 16,000 digits, confirming that pi is
infinite and totally random.
Transition: What is the fascination with pi that has caused people to be both fascinated
and obsessed?
Conclusion:
I. No one knows for sure why pi has caused such a craze, why several books,
movies and Web pages have been devoted to this subject. (brings speech to
an end)
A. What inspired the Chudnovsky brothers to devoted their lives to the search
for pi?
B. What inspired me to write a speech on a silly number?
C. The answer lies in the mystery of pi: People explore pi because it is an
adventure to do so.
II. Remember that pi not only the circle ratio, not the biggest influence on math
over history, but also a number that has a great affect on people and an
influence on everything we do. (reinforces thesis and summarizes main
points)
III. William Schaaf in “The Nature and History of Pi,” concludes that “probably
no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism,
misconception and human interest as the number pi.” (Schaaf 78)
Works Cited
Blatner, David. The Joy of Pi. New York: Walker and Company, 1997.
Blatner, David. “Pi Facts and Figures.” The Joy of Pi. Accessed 20 September 2000.
http://joyofpi.com/.
Schaff William. “The Nature and History of Pi.” The Joy of Pi. Accessed 20 September
2000. http://www.joyofpi.com/schaaf.
Witcome, Chris. “Notes on Pi.” Earth Mysteries. Sweet Briar College. Accessed 23
September 2000. http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMPi.html.