Zu Chongzhi (429-500), born in Qixian County, Fanyang County (now Laishui County, Hebei Province), was an outstanding mathematician and astronomer in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Born in Fan Yangzu's family. He studied natural science all his life, mainly contributing to mathematics, astronomical calendar and mechanical manufacturing. On the basis of exploring the accurate method of pi pioneered by Liu Hui, he first calculated the "pi" to the seventh place after the decimal point, that is, between 3. 14 15926 and 3. 14 15927. His "ancestral rate" has made great contributions to mathematical research.
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Anecdotal allusions
In Zu Chongzhi's time, abacus did not appear, and the commonly used calculation tool was called calculation. It is a square or flat stick several inches long, made of bamboo, wood, iron, jade and other materials. Different calculation and financing methods are used to represent various numbers, which is called financing algorithm. If there are more digits, the larger the area needs to be placed.
It is not like using a pen to calculate with a calculation formula, it can be left on paper, and every time the calculation is completed, it must be swung again for a new calculation; You can only write down the calculation results with notes, and you can't get more intuitive graphics and formulas. So as long as there are errors, such as calculation errors or calculation errors, we can only start from scratch.
In order to get the accurate value of pi, Zu Chongzhi needs to calculate the decimal of nine significant figures, including more than ten steps of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and square root operation, and each step has to be repeated for more than ten times and 50 times of square root operation, and finally the calculated number reaches 16 or 17 digits after the decimal point.