The 1897 Indiana Pi Bill
The Indiana Pi Bill is the popular name for bill #246 of the 1897 sitting of the Indiana General Assembly, one of the most famous attempts to establish mathematical truth by legislative fiat. Despite its name, the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant ? (pi), the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. However, the bill does imply various incorrect values of ?, such as 3.2.
In 1894, Indiana physician and amateur mathematician Edward J. Goodwin (ca. 1825–1902[1]) believed that he had discovered a correct way of squaring the circle.[2] He proposed a bill to Indiana Representative Taylor I. Record, which Record introduced in the House under the long title "A Bill for an act introducing a new mathematical truth and offered as a contribution to education to be used only by the State of Indiana free of cost by paying any royalties whatever on the same, provided it is accepted and adopted by the official action of the Legislature of 1897".
As this debate concluded, Purdue University Professor C. A. Waldo arrived in Indianapolis to secure the annual appropriation for the Indiana Academy of Science. An assemblyman handed him the bill, offering to introduce him to the genius who wrote it. He declined, saying that he already met as many crazy people as he cared to.[5]
When it reached the Indiana Senate, the bill was not treated so kindly, for Waldo had coached the senators previously. The committee to which it had been assigned reported it unfavorably, and the Senate tabled it on February 12;[4]:386 it was nearly passed, but opinion changed when one senator observed that the General Assembly lacked the power to define mathematical truth.[4]:391 Influencing some of the senators was a report that major newspapers, such as the Chicago Tribune, had begun to ridicule the situation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill
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