To this day, scientists are still figuring out whether it is possible to square a circle. The original question was by <a href="https://www.math.tamu.edu/~don.allen/history/anaxagoras/anaxagor.html#:~:text=Anaxagoras%20represents%20bold%2C%20rational%20inquiry,%60%60the%20desire%20to%20know%22.&amp;text=Anaxagoras%20was%20mostly%20a%20natural,only%20straight%20edge%20and%20compass" class="on">Anaxagoras of Clazomenae</a> in 450 BC, who tried to square the circle using only classical tools, namely a straight edge and a compass, while in prison. In 1882, German mathematician Ferdinand von Lindemann proved that squaring the circle was impossible using only classical tools. Despite this, the question of squaring the circle remained a topic of interest for mathematicians. Recently, three mathematicians posted a paper online. Their study showed how to square the circle (and back) <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/an-ancient-geometry-problem-falls-to-new-mathematical-techniques-20220208/">by cutting the circle into about 10^200 pieces</a> (yes, that many). Another group of researchers also did the same thing back in 2016, but the shapes from this new paper are said to be "simpler in shape and much easier for mathematicians to visualize." Oleg Pikhurko, one of the study authors, says that he already has ideas to simplify and reduce the number of pieces needed to square the circle to less than 20 pieces. (Image Credit: Quanta Magazine) #Mathematics #SquaringTheCircle #Geometry #GraphTheory

#squaringthecircle