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William Shanks
Amateur calculator, school owner · Academics · Lived 1812 to 1882 · aged 70
William Shanks was an English amateur mathematician. He is famous for his calculation of π to 707 decimal places in 1873, which was correct up to the first 527 places. The error was discovered in 1944 by D. F. Ferguson.
William Shanks is read about 25 times a day, in 19 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 25 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?Also in Deutsch
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About this person
Nevertheless, Shanks's approximation was the longest expansion of π until the advent of the digital electronic computer in the 1940s.
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1812 to 1882 · aged 70
