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Historytopic:Squaringthecircle
There are three classical problems in Greek mathematics which were extremely influential in the
developmentofgeometry.Theseproblemswerethoseofsquaringthecircle,doublingthecubeandtrisecting
an angle. Although these are closely linked, we choose to examine them in separate articles. The present
article studies what has become the most famous for these problems, namely the problem of squaringthe
circleorthequadratureofthecircleasitissometimescalled.

Oneofthefascinationsofthisproblemisthatithasbeenofinterestthroughoutthewholeofthehistoryof
mathematics.Fromtheoldestmathematicaldocumentsknownuptothemathematicsoftodaytheproblem
andrelatedproblemsconcerninghaveinterestedbothprofessionalmathematiciansandamateur
mathematicians.

OneoftheoldestsurvivingmathematicalwritingsistheRhindpapyrus,namedaftertheScottish
EgyptologistAHenryRhindwhopurchaseditinLuxorin1858.Itisascrollabout6metreslongand1/3of
ametrewideandwaswrittenaround1650BCbythescribeAhmeswhocopiedadocumentwhichis200
yearsolder.Thisgivesdatefortheoriginalpapyrusofabout1850BCbutsomeexpertsbelievethatthe
Rhindpapyrusisbasedonaworkgoingbackto3400BC.

IntheRhindpapyrusAhmesgivesaruletoconstructasquareofareanearlyequaltothatofacircle.The
ruleistocut1/9offthecircle'sdiameterandtoconstructasquareontheremainder.Althoughthisisnot
reallyageometricalconstructionassuchitdoesshowthattheproblemofconstructingasquareofareaequal
tothatofacirclegoesbacktothebeginningsofmathematics.Thisisquiteagoodapproximation,
correspondingtoavalueof3.1605,ratherthan3.14159,for.

TheproblemofsquaringthecircleintheformwhichwethinkofittodayoriginatedinGreekmathematics
anditisnotalwaysproperlyunderstood.Theproblemwas,givenacircle,toconstructgeometricallya
squareequalinareatothegivencircle.Themethodsonewasallowedtousetodothisconstructionwerenot
entirelyclear,forreallytherangeofmethodsusedingeometrybytheGreekswasenlargedthroughattempts
tosolvethisandotherclassicalproblems.Pappus,writinginhisworkMathematicalcollectionattheendof
theperiodofGreekdevelopmentofgeometry,distinguishesthreetypesofmethodsusedbytheancient
Greeks(seeforexample[5]):

Thereare,wesay,threetypesofproblemingeometry,thesocalled'plane','solid',and'linear'
problems.Thosethatcanbesolvedwithstraightlineandcircleareproperlycalled'plane'
problems,forthelinesbywhichsuchproblemsaresolvedhavetheirorigininaplane.Those
problemsthataresolvedbytheuseofoneormoresectionsoftheconearecalled'solid'
problems.Foritisnecessaryintheconstructiontousesurfacesofsolidfigures,thatistosay,
cones.Thereremainthethirdtype,thesocalled'linear'problem.Fortheconstructioninthese
casescurvesotherthanthosealreadymentionedarerequired,curveshavingamorevariedand
forcedoriginandarisingfrommoreirregularsurfacesandfromcomplexmotions.

Nowweusuallythinkoftheproblemofsquaringthecircletobeaproblemwhichhastobesolvedusinga
rulerandcompass.Thisisreallyaskingwhethersquaringthecircleisa'plane'problemintheterminologyof
Pappusgivenabove(weshalloftenrefertoa'planesolution'ratherthanusethemorecumbersome'solutions
usingrulerandcompass").TheancientGreeks,however,didnotrestrictthemselvestoattemptingtofinda
planesolution(whichwenowknowtobeimpossible),butratherdevelopedagreatvarietyofmethodsusing
variouscurvesinventedspeciallyforthepurpose,ordevisedconstructionsbasedonsomemechanical
method.

ThefirstmathematicianwhoisonrecordashavingattemptedtosquarethecircleisAnaxagoras.Plutarch,in
hisworkOnExilewhichwaswritteninthefirstcenturyAD,says[4]:

Thereisnoplacethatcantakeawaythehappinessofaman,noryethisvirtueorwisdom.
Anaxagoras,indeed,wroteonthesquaringofthecirclewhileinprison.
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Nowtheproblemmusthavebecomequitepopularshortlyafterthis,notjustamongasmallnumberof
mathematicians,butquitewidely,sincethereisareferencetoitinaplayBirdswrittenbyAristopenesin
about414BC.Twocharactersarespeaking,Metonistheastronomer(seeDBarrett(trs.),Aristophanes,
Birds(London,1978)or[4]forashorterquote):

Meton:Iproposetosurveytheairforyou:itwillhavetobemarkedoutinacres.

Peisthetaerus:Goodlord,whodoyouthinkyouare?

Meton:WhoamI?WhyMeton.THEMeton.FamousthroughouttheHellenicworldyoumust
haveheardofmyhydraulicclockatColonus?

Peisthetaerus(eyeingMeton'sinstruments):Andwhatarethesefor?

Meton:Ah!Thesearemyspecialrodsformeasuringtheair.Yousee,theairisshapedhow
shallIputit?likeasortofextinguisher:soallIhavetodoistoattachthisflexiblerodatthe
upperextremity,takethecompasses,insertthepointhere,andyouseewhatImean?

Peisthetaerus:No.

Meton:WellInowapplythestraightrodsothussquaringthecircle:andthereyouare.Inthe
centreyouhaveyourmarketplace:straightstreetsleadingintoit,fromhere,fromhere,from
here.Verymuchthesameprinciple,really,astheraysofastar:thestaritselfiscircular,but
sendsoutstraightraysineverydirection.

Peisthetaerus:Brillianttheman'saThales.

Nowfromthistimetheexpression'circlesquarers'cameintousageanditwasappliedtosomeonewho
attemptstheimpossible.IndeedtheGreeksinventedaspecialwordwhichmeant'tobusyoneselfwiththe
quadrature'.ForreferencestosquaringthecircletoenterapopularplayandtoentertheGreekvocabularyin
thisway,theremusthavebeenmuchactivitybetweentheworkofAnaxagorasandthewritingoftheplay.
Indeedweknowoftheworkofanumberofmathematiciansonthisproblemduringthisperiod:Oenopides,
Antiphon,Bryson,Hippocrates,andHippias.

OenopidesisthoughtbyHeathtobethepersonwhorequiredaplanesolutiontogeometryproblems.Proclus
attributestwotheoremstoOenopides,namelytodrawaperpendiculartoalinefromagivenpointnotonthe
line,andtoconstructfromagivenpointonagivenline,alineatagivenangletothegivenline.Heath
believesthatthesignificanceoftheseelementaryresultswasthatOenopidessetoutforthefirsttimethe
explicit'plane'or'rulerandcompass'typeofconstruction.Heathwrites[2]:

...[Oenopides]mayhavebeenthefirsttolaydowntherestrictionofthemeanspermissiblein
constructionswithrulerandcompasseswhichbecameacanonofGreekgeometryforallplane
constructions...

ThereisnorecordofanyattemptbyOenopidestosquarethecirclebyplanemethods.Infactitisarather
remarkablefactthattheGreeksdidnotproducefallacious'proofs'thatthecirclecouldbesquaredbyplane
methods.Thefewclaimsforsuchfalseproofsratherseemtoresultfromlessablemathematiciansfailingto
understandexactlywhatsomeofthemorebrilliantcontributionstotheproblemwereintendedtoshow.
SadlylatermathematiciansdidnotfollowthegoodexampleshownbytheancientGreeksandindeedmany
claimedincorrectlytohavediscovereda'rulerandcompass'proof.Amateurmathematicians,greatly
attractedtotheclassicalproblems,haveproduced(andstillcontinuetoproduce)thousandsoffalseproofs.

AntiphonandBrysonbothproducedargumentsrelatingtosquaringthecirclewhichweretoproveimportant
inthefuturedevelopmentofmathematics.Antiphoninscribedasquareinacircle,thenaregularpolygon
witheightsides,thenonewithsixteensidesandhecontinuedtheprocesscontinuallydoublingthenumberof
sides.ItappearsthatBrysonimprovedtheargumentofAntiphonbynotonlyinscribingpolygonsinacircle
butalsocircumscribedpolygons.Themistiusstates[1]:

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...thatBrysondeclaredthecircletobegreaterthanallinscribed,andlessthanall
circumscribedpolygons.

Hippocrateswasthefirsttoactuallyuseaplaneconstructiontofindasquarewithareaequaltoafigurewith
circularsides.Hesquaredcertainlunes,andalsothesumofaluneandacircle.Nowalthoughhesquared
certainlunes,hehadnotshownthateverylunecanbesquared.Inparticularthelunethathesquaredinhis
planeconstructionofasquareofareaequaltothatofacertainluneandacirclewasonehecouldnotsquare
byplanemethods.OfcoursethislunecannotbesquaredbyplanemethodsotherwiseHippocrateswould
havesquaredthecircle.Althoughsome,suchasAristotle,seemedtofailtounderstandthelogicof
Hippocratesargument,thereseemslittledoubtthatHippocrateswasperfectlyawarethathismethodshad
failedtosquarethecircle.ExamplesofHippocrates'methodsofsquaringlunesaregiveninhisbiographyin
thisarchive.

HippiasandDinostratusareassociatedwiththemethodofsquaringthecircleusingaquadratrix.Thecurveit
thoughttobetheinventionofHippiaswhileitsapplicationtosquaringthecircleappearstobedueto
Dinostratus.TheconstructionofthiscurvewithadiagramisgiveninthebiographyofHippiasinthis
archive.Nowthiscurvecertainlysolvestheproblemofsquaringthecirclebut,asgivenbyHippias,the
curveisconstructedbymechanicalmeansgivenbyauniformmotionofalineinatimeequaltotherotating
radiusofacircle.Theconstructionwasrightlycriticisedasrequiringaknowledgeoftheratioofalineand
anarcofacircle,sooneassumedasknownthepropertyrequiredtosquarethecircleinthefirstplace.Itis
clearthatDinostratusneverclaimedthatthequadratrixgaveaplanemethodtosquarethecircle.Nicomedes
manyyearslateralsousedthequadratrixtosquarethecircle.

Aristotledidnotseemtoappreciatethecontributionsofthosewhohadattemptedtosquarethecircle.He
wroteinhisworkPhysics:

Theexponentofanyscienceisnotcalledupontosolveeverykindofdifficultythatmaybe
raised,butonlysuchasarisethroughfalsedeductionsfromtheprinciplesofthescience:with
othersthantheseheneednotconcernhimself.Forexample,itisforthegeometertoexposethe
quadraturebymeansofsegments,butitisnotthebusinessofthegeometertorefutethe
argumentsofAntiphon.

Inthisquote"quadraturebymeansofsegments"referstoHippocratesquadratureofluneswhichAristotle
mistakenlythinkswasintendedasaproofthatthecirclecanbesquaredbyplanemethods.Antiphon's
methodscomeinforevenmorecriticismfromAristotle,butallcredittoAntiphonwhosemethodscontained
importantideaswhichwouldleadeventuallytointegration.Aristotlealsowroteinsimilartermsin
Sophisticalrefutationsagainprobablyhavinghadhandeddowntohimanincorrectinterpretationofwhat
AntiphonandBrysonhadattemptedtoshow:

ThemethodbywhichBrysontriedtosquarethecircle,wereiteversomuchsquaredthereby,is
yetmadesophisticalbythefactthatithasnorelationtothematterinhand....Thesquaringof
thecirclebymeansoflunesisnoteristic,butthequadratureofBrysoniseristic.Thereasoning
usedbytheformercannotbeappliedtoanysubjectotherthangeometryalone,whereas
Bryson'sargumentisdirectedtothemassofpeoplewhodonotknowwhatispossibleandwhat
isimpossibleineachdepartment,foritwillfitany.AndthesameistrueofAntiphon's
quadrature.

NextweshouldconsiderthecontributionsofArchimedestotheproblemofsquaringthecircle.Now
Archimedesisfamedforhisintroductionofthespiralcurve,butwhydidheintroducedthiscurve?The
authorsof[7]suggestthreereasons:

Isitforpurelygeometricreasonsbecausehestudiedthiscurveasameansofcalculating,and
squaringthecircle?Isitbecauseofhisastronomicalinterests,tryingtocalculategeometrically
thespiralmovementsoftheplanets?Orisitfinallythroughtheinterestofamechanicalmindin
acurvewhichresultsfromthecombinationoftworegularuniformmovements,oneinastraight
linetheotherinacircle?thesethreereasonsareevidentatoneandthesametime...

ArchimedesgivesthefollowingdefinitionofthespiralinhisworkOnspirals(see[5]forexample):

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Ifastraightlinedrawninaplanerevolvesuniformlyanynumberoftimesaboutafixed
extremityuntilitreturnstoitsoriginalposition,andif,atthesametimeasthelinerevolves,a
pointmovesuniformlyalongthestraightlinebeginningatthefixedextremity,thepointwill
describeaspiralintheplane.

TosquarethecircleArchimedesgivesthefollowingconstruction.LetPbe
thepointonthespiralwhenithascompletedoneturn.LetthetangentatP
cutthelineperpendiculartoOPatT.ThenArchimedesprovesinProposition
19ofOnspiralsthatOTisthelengthofthecircumferenceofthecirclewith
radiusOP.Nowitmaynotbeclearthatthisissolvedtheproblemof
squaringthecirclebutArchimedeshadalreadyprovedasthefirst
propositionofMeasurementofthecirclethattheareaofacircleisequaltoa
rightangledtrianglehavingthetwoshortersidesequaltotheradiusofthe
circleandthecircumferenceofthecircle.Sotheareaofthecirclewith
radiusOPisequaltotheareaofthetriangleOPT.

BothApolloniusandCarpususedcurvestosquarethecirclebutitisnotclearexactlywhatthesecurves
were.TheoneusedbyApolloniusiscalledbyIamblichus'sisterofthecochloid'andthishasledtovarious
guessesastowhatthecurvemighthavebeen.AgainthecurveusedbyCarpusofAntiochiscalledthe'curve
ofdoublemotion'whichPaulTanneryarguedwasthecycloid.

NowweleavetheancientGreekperiodandlookatlaterdevelopmentsbutthefirstcommentweshould
makeisthattheGreekswerecertainlynottheonlyonestobeinterestedinsquaringthecircleatthistime.
MathematiciansinIndiawereinterestedintheproblem(seeforexample[11])whileinChina
mathematicianssuchasLiuHsiaooftheHanDynastyshowedhimselftobeoneoftheprominentofthose
attemptingtosquarethecircleinaround25AD.

SometimelatertheArabmathematicianswere,liketheGreeks,fascinatedbytheproblem.In[6]theworkof
alHaythamonsquaringthecircleisdiscussed.NowalHaythamaimedtoconvincepeoplethatsquaringthe
circlewaspossiblebyaplaneconstructionbutsincehispromisedtreatiseonthetopicneverappearedhe
mustatleasthaverealisedthathecouldnotsolvetheproblem.

NotlongaftertheworkofalHaytham,FrancoofLigein1050wroteatreatiseDequadraturacirculion
squaringthecircle.Thetextisreproducedin[8]and[9]andinitFrancoexaminesthreeearliermethods
basedontheassumptionthatis25/8,49/16or4.Francostates(reasonablyenough)thatthesearefalse,then
giveshisownconstructionwhichisbasedontheassumptionthatis22/7.Althoughthistreatiseisofgreat
historicalinterest,itdoesshowhowEuropeanmathematicsatthetimewasfarbehindtheancientGreeksin
depthofunderstanding.

Movingforwardtoabout1450,Cusaattemptedtoprovethatthecirclecouldbesquaredbyaplane
construction.Althoughhismethodofaveragingcertaininscribedandcircumscribedpolygonsisquite
fallacious,itisoneofthefirstseriousattemptsin'modern'Europetosolvetheproblem.Againitisworth
commentingthattheancientGreeksbasicallyknewthatthecirclecouldnotbesquaredbyplanemethods,
althoughtheystoodnochanceofprovingit.Regiomontanus,whobroughtanewimpetustoEuropean
mathematics,wasquicktopointouttheerrorinCusa'sarguments.

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ThemechanicalmethodsoftheGreekscertainlyappealedtoLeonardowhothoughtaboutmathematicsina
verymechanicalway.Hedevisedseveralnewmechanicalmethodstosquarethecircle.Many
mathematiciansinthesixteenthcenturystudiedtheproblem,includingOronceFineandGiambattistadella
Porta.The'proof'byFinewasshowntobeincorrectbyPedroNunessoonafterheproducedit.The
beginningsofthedifferentialandintegralcalculusledtoanincreasedinterestinsquaringthecircle,butthe
neweraofmathematicsstillproducedfallacious'proofs'ofplanemethodstosquarethecircle.Onesuch
falseproof,givenbySaintVincentinabookpublishedin1647,wasbasedonanearlytypeofintegration.
Theproblemwasstillprovidingmuchimpetusformathematicaldevelopment.

JamesGregorydevelopedadeepunderstandingofinfinitesequencesandconvergence.Heappliedthese
ideastothesequencesofareasoftheinscribedandcircumscribedpolygonsofacircleandtriedtousethe
methodtoprovethattherewasnoplaneconstructionforsquaringthecircle.Hisproofessentiallyattempted
toprovethatwastranscendental,thatisnottherootofarationalpolynomialequation.Althoughhewas
correctinwhathetriedtoprove,hisproofwascertainlynotcorrect.However,otherssuchasHuygens,
believedthatwasalgebraic,thatisthatitistherootofarationalpolynomialequation.

Therewasstillaninterestinobtainingmethodstosquarethecirclewhichwerenotplanemethods.For
exampleJohannBernoulligaveamethodofsquaringthecirclethroughtheformationofevolventsandthis
methodisdescribedindetailin[12].

Thehistorianofmathematics,Montucla,madesquaringthecirclethetopicofhisfirsthistoricalwork
publishedin1754.Thiswaswrittenatatimelongbeforetheproblemwasfinallyresolved,soisnecessarily
veryoutdated.Theworkis,however,aclassicandstillwellworthreading.

Amajorstepforwardinprovingthatthecirclecouldnotbesquaredusingrulerandcompassesoccurredin
1761whenLambertprovedthatwasirrational.Thiswasnotenoughtoprovetheimpossibilityofsquaring
thecirclewithrulerandcompasssincecertainalgebraicnumberscanbeconstructedwithrulerandcompass.
Itonlyledtoagreaterfloodofamateursolutionstotheproblemofsquaringthecircleandin1775theParis
AcadmiedesSciencespassedaresolutionwhichmeantthatnofurtherattemptedsolutionssubmittedto
themwouldbeexamined.AfewyearslatertheRoyalSocietyinLondonalsobannedconsiderationofany
further'proofs'ofsquaringthecircleaslargenumbersofamateurmathematicianstriedtoachievefameby
presentingtheSocietywithasolution.ThisdecisionoftheRoyalSocietywasdescribedbyDeMorganabout
100yearslaterastheofficialblowtocirclesquarers.

ThepopularityoftheproblemcontinuedandtherearemanyamusingstoriestoldbyDeMorganonthistopic
inhisbookBudgetofParadoxeswhichwaseditedandpublishedbyhiswifein1872,theyearafterhis
death.DeMorgansuggeststhatStVitusbemadethepatronsaintofcirclesquarers.ThisisareferencetoSt
Vitus'dance,awildleapingdanceinwhichpeoplescreamedandshoutedandwhichledtoakindofmass
hysteria.DeMorganalsosuggestedtheterm'morbuscyclometricus'asbeingthe'circlesquaringdisease'.
ClearlyDeMorganfoundhimselfhavingtotrytopersuadethesecirclesquarersthattheirmethodswere
incorrect,yetmanystubbornlyheldtotheirviewsdespitethebesteffortsoftheprofessionalmathematicians.
ForexampleacertainMrJamesSmithwroteseveralbooksattemptingtoprovethat=25/8.OfcourseMr
SmithwasabletodeducefromthisthatthecirclecouldbesquaredbutneitherHamilton,DeMorgannor
otherscouldconvincehimofhiserrors.

Thefinalsolutiontotheproblemofwhetherthecirclecouldbesquaredusingrulerandcompassmethods
camein1880whenLindemannprovedthatwastranscendental,thatisitisnottherootofanypolynomial
equationwithrationalcoefficients.Thetranscendentalityoffinallyprovesthatthereisnorulerand
compassconstructiontosquarethecircle.

Onemightimaginethatthiswouldbetheendofinterestintheproblemofsquaringthecircle,butthiswas
certainlynotthecase.Itneitherpreventedthestreamofpublicationsclaimingthathadsomesimple
rationalvalue,nordiditpreventthestreamofpublicationsofquitecorrectconstructionstoapproximately
squarethecirclewithrulerandcompass.Asanexampleoftheformertypeofclaim,theNewYorkTribune
publishedaletterin1892inwhichtheauthorclaimedtohaverediscoveredasecretgoingbackto
Nicomedeswhichprovedthat=3.2.Perhapsmoresurprisingisthefactthatthereweremanywhowere
totallyconvincedbythisletterandfirmlybelievedthereafterthat=3.2.

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AmongthecorrectapproximateconstructionstosquarethecirclewasonebyHobsonin1913.Thiswasa
fairlyaccurateconstructionwhichwasbasedonconstructingtheapproximatevalueof3.14164079...for
insteadof3.14159265.....Moreremarkable,however,wastherulerandcompassconstructionspublishedby
Ramanujan.IntheJournaloftheIndianMathematicalSocietyin1913inapapernamedSquaringthecircle
Ramanujangaveaconstructionwhichwasequivalenttogivingtheapproximatevalueof355/113for,which
differsfromcorrectvalueonlyintheseventhdecimalplace.Heendedthepaperwiththefollowing:

Note.Iftheareaofthecirclebe140,000squaremiles,then[thesideofthesquare]isgreater
thanthetruelengthbyaboutaninch.

AmongotherconstructionsgivenbyRamanujanin1914(Approximategeometricalconstructionsfor,
QuarterlyJournalofMathematicsXLV(1914),350374)wasarulerandcompassconstructionwhichwas
equivalenttotakingthestrangeyetremarkableapproximatevaluefortobe(92+192/22)1/4.Nowthisis
3.1415926525826461253....whichdiffersfromonlyintheninthdecimalplace(=
3.1415926535897932385...).Foracircleofdiameter8000miles,theerrorinthelengthofthesideofthe
squareconstructedwasonlyafractionofaninch.

Articleby:JJO'ConnorandEFRobertson

April1999

MacTutorHistoryofMathematics
[http://wwwhistory.mcs.standrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Squaring_the_circle.html]

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