China
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Zu Chongzhi
Jiankang (Nanjing, Jiangsu), China
Archival Overview
Chinese mathematician and astronomer who calculated Pi between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927—a world precision record that stood unbroken for nine centuries—and reformed the imperial calendar.
Biographical Record
Zu Chongzhi (429–500 CE), working during the Southern and Northern Dynasties in Nanjing, carried out some of the most rigorous mathematical calculations of antiquity. Using Liu Hui's exhaustion method on a polygon of 24,576 sides, he approximated $pi$ to seven decimal places (between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927), a world record unsurpassed until the 15th century.
He determined the rational fraction $355/113$ as the close ratio for $pi$ (the Milü). In astronomy, he created the Daming Calendar, accurately calculating the solar year as 365.2428 days and discovering that the moon makes 110 cycles of nodical orbit in 3,939 days.
Key Life Milestones
Creation of the Daming Calendar
Submitted his revolutionary astronomical calendar measuring the solar year with an accuracy error of only 50 seconds.
World Precision Record for Pi (3.1415926)
Calculated Pi to seven decimal places using a 24,576-sided inscribed polygon, standing as a world record for 900 years.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialNanjing (Jiangsu), China