THIRD ANSWERS
Lieutenant Flarp’s statement, which begins “How I want a drink,” is a mnemonic for pi devised by the famous British astronomer Sir James Jeans. The number of letters in each word corresponds to the first fifteen digits of pi. POSTSCRIPT
Many elegant problems in mathematics can be solved quickly if you make the assumption that the problem does indeed have a solution. A classic example, in three dimen sions, closely related to this one, concerns a cylindrical hole that has been drilled straight through the center of a solid wooden sphere. The hole is six inches long. What is the volume remaining in the sphere? The problem can be solved the hard way, but let’s take the shortcut of assuming there is a solution. If so, the vol ume must be a constant regardless of the hole’s size. Reduce the radius of the hole to zero. What “remains” is a solid sphere with a diameter of six inches and a volume of thirtysix times pi. If the problem has a unique answer, this must be it! Dozens of clever mnemonic sentences for remembering decimal expansions of pi and other irrational numbers have been published. Here is a short nonalcoholic sentence for pi to -seven decimal places: May I have a large container o f coffee?
The two other anagrams are TRACER and RE-CART
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