----- Original Message -----
I am very, very fond of pi, but I don't think I've ever
been particularly excited about the calculation of huge numbers of its
digits. Suppose someone finally found some kind of pattern in the digits
-- would that be so very surprising? (OK, I admit that if the pattern
were a message from another inhabited planet, *that* would be something to
write home about!)
But I suspect I'm missing something. Can
someone try to explain to me what's the big deal about more and more digits of
pi, other than getting into Guinness?
In my opinion finding a pattern
in pi's digits would be jaw-droppingly
revolutionary. But if the digits were a message from "god" or little
green aliens, that would be even more than revolutionary, that would be
impossible.
From a practical POV I think pi digits are used
to check out computers
but I would not have guessed it would be worth 5
years of design time.
Anyone: Why did they do this?
Steve Gray