You Can Approximate Pi by Dropping Needles on the Floor
SMRTR summary
Buffon's needle experiment, proven in 1777, demonstrates that dropping needles onto parallel lines can approximate pi through probability calculations. When needles equal the line spacing, the crossing probability equals 2/π, so counting crossings among total drops estimates pi's value, essentially creating an early form of Monte Carlo simulation using physical randomness.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Wired.
Read the original article