2006-09-03 12:11:09 · 4 answers · asked by bolters37 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The last chapter of the novel is a puzzle of sorts (but not in the movie)...
In the last chapter, the heroine works on a computer program to compute the digits of Pi to record lengths and in different bases. Very, very far from the decimal point and in base 11, she finds that a special pattern does exist when the numbers are plotted: a perfect circle. She suggests this is an unmistakably intelligent artifact, "the artist's signature," woven into the fabric of space.
Sounds amazing ... but... it is believed that *any* sequence or pattern of digits occurs somewhere in the expansion of Pi (and an infinite number of times at that). So yes the "artist's signature" does occur in pi, but so does mine, and so does yours!
There is currently no way to find any given "signature"... so that's the puzzle! If you want to find the secrets of Pi yourself, try...
http://numbers.computation.free.fr/Constants/PiProgram/pifast.html
2006-09-03 22:44:22 · answer #1 · answered by Mowgli 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure? I don't think so. I'll have to look again.
I looked. I don't see any numbers really besides pi and dates.
2006-09-03 19:20:19 · answer #2 · answered by Steph 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Haven't read the book - but loved the film.
2006-09-03 19:14:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you think that it might be?
2006-09-03 20:21:10 · answer #4 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋