All thinkers

Georges-Louis Leclerc: 2 puzzles worth knowing

2 puzzles from Georges-Louis Leclerc, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Drop a needle again and again, and pi falls out

  Rule a floor with parallel lines spaced exactly as far apart as a needle is long. Drop the needle randomly, over and over, and record how often it crosses a line. What does the fra…

  — Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Essai d'arithmétique morale

• Drop a needle onto a floor of parallel lines enough times and it will compute pi

  Take a needle exactly as long as the gap between a floor's parallel lines, and drop it randomly over and over, recording how often it lands crossing a line versus landing clear of …

  — Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Essai d'arithmétique morale

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