this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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I never understood this. Any measurement you do with a wheel you could do with a line of length equal to the circumference. So whether they knew about pi or not is irrelevant?
Wheels are always a fraction of pi. Whether you like it or not. Lengths of string can be arbitrary, but a circle's dimensions are always tightly related to and proportional to pi in some way. I also recall that wheel measurements are more precise for large scale building because, unlike rope, leather and cloth, a wooden wheel doesnt stretch. Two wheels made similar will stay more between a much tighter error factor than two pieces of rope. The rope might start at the same length but will deform differently as they are used.
I think they are saying that the circumference of a wheel can be any arbitrary measurement, you just change the size of the wheel. So how can that be notably different from having a straight ruler the same length as whatever that circumference is?
The spoke of the wheel is the same length used to measure the blocks. Other comments here have gone into detail. If the height of the blocks is the same as the diameter or radius of the wheel used to measure the base, then the relations will always be some function of pi. You don't have to know any definition of pi for this to always be geometrically true.