Table of Contents

Preface



1. Discovery of π and Its Manifestations

Prologue

Discovery, Calculation, Proof

Geometric Archetypes

Manifestations of Archetypal Structure

Geometry as a Hermeneutic Science

Epilogue



2. Pi in Mathematics and the Physical World

Prologue

Pythagoreanism

Uniting Arithmetic and Geometry

The Planetary Orbits

Natural and Physical Phenomena

Topology, Non-Euclidean Geometry, and Fractal Geometry

Epilogue



3. Pi in Art and Architecture

Prologue

Pythagoreanism in Art

The Circle in Art and Symbolism

Pi in Art

Epilogue



4. Pi in Popular Culture

Prologue

Mathematics in Popular Culture

Pi in Popular Culture

Pi-Mania

Epilogue



5. Order and Chaos

Prologue

Cohen’s Dilemma

Chaos Theory

Order and Chaos

Epilogue

Final Remarks



References

Index

About the Author

Marcel Danesi, Ph.D. (1974), is Professor of Semiotics and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto. He has published extensively in the field of mathematical cognition and education, and founded a center at the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences to study the relation between mathematics, the mind, and culture.

Reviews

"Het voortreffelijke boek laat alle lezers op fascinerende wijze kennismaken met het wonder van π. Pi, of de verhouding van de omtrek van een cirkel tot de diameter, was een van de eerste irrationele getallen die werden ontdekt." [An exccellent book which introduces the author to the wonders of Pi.]

-- Jan M. Broeders, Optische Fenomenen, newsletter 405, March 2021