Jurij Vega's 140-digit calculation of π
Cálculo de π con 140 cifras (Jurij Vega)
- Date
- 1789 · confidence high
- Place
- Vienna, Austria
- Credited to
- Jurij Vega
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What was discovered
Using a Machin-type formula for the arctangent, Vega computed π to 140 decimals, of which 126 were correct. It was the world record for about 52 years.
The record stood until 1841 (Rutherford, with 152 correct digits). Vega, born in Zagorica (today Slovenia), worked at the Vienna military academy; his tables were reprinted into the 20th century.
What it led to
- Vega's widely used logarithm tables
- later improvements in computing π with arctangent series