Why is 4 the value of pi in Indiana?

[NewJeffCT]

I can understand some of the strange laws being held over from ye olde days... but, why is 4 the value of pi in Indiana?

Delaware
It’s illegal to get married on a dare.

Indiana
The value of pi is 4, and not 3.1415.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/99603-i-m-arrest-what-fifty-bizarre

[KamaAina]

1. Because the Indy racetrack is oval, not circular?

:shrug:

[Dr Morbius]

2. Love this one.

Nevada
It’s illegal for men with mustaches to kiss women.

So apparently there's no law against men with mustaches kissing other men. Hey, this law discriminates against heterosexuals! :D

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. Because it is INDIANA

my home sweet home

[IDemo]

4. It don't rain in Indianapolis, and God didn't make irrational numbers n/t

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Because they all think pi r square

thus it MUST be an even number.

Duh.

(Yep, I'z a Hoosier, born and raised.)

[Swede]

8. Cake are square.

Pie are round.

[gmoney]

11. "Pi are round, cornbread are square"

That's how I always heard it. (Many cakes ARE round, after all!)

[hobbit709]

6. Did the lawmakers in Minnesota watch Monty Python?

Minnesota
It’s illegal to paint a sparrow with the intent of selling it as a parakeet (Harper Woods).

And I guess this rules out karaoke there
North Carolina
It’s against the law to sing off-key.

[Orsino]

7. Lawmakers: providing simple answers to complex questions for over 25,000 years. n/t

[Chan790]

9. Why 4 and not 3?

3 is close enough that it was used for hundreds of years as an approximation for 22/7 in ancient times. It was even in the bible.

[abq e streeter]

10. All part of the war on Christianity... Damn, the republicans are right after all.

[pokerfan]

12. Book recommendation

Indiana Bill 246 is on page 175 of A History of pi by Petr Beckman (ISBN: 9780312381851)

Marvelous book.

[Bucky]

13. Usually things like this turn out to be urban legends. I've heard the "pi=3 in State X" before

Usually they say Kansas or Alabama. But the point is the story always turns out to be bullshit.

[Archae]

14. It is bullshit.

http://www.snopes.com/religion/pi.asp

[pokerfan]

15. There really was an Indiana Pi Bill

The Indiana Pi Bill is the popular name for bill #246 of the 1897 sitting of the Indiana General Assembly, one of the most famous attempts to establish scientific truth by legislative fiat. Despite that name, the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for π, although the bill does contain text that appears to dictate various incorrect values of π, such as 3.2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill