Math errors in python

[Alex Martelli]

Gary Herron <gherron at islandtraining.com> wrote:

> A nice thoughtful answer Alex, but possibly wasted, as it's been
> suggested that he is just a troll.  (Note his asssertion that Pi=22/7
> in one post and the assertion that it is just a common approximation
> in another, and this in a thread about numeric imprecision.)

If he's not a troll, he _should_ be -- it's just too sad to consider the
possibility that somebody is really that ignorant and arrogant at the
same time (although, tragically, human nature is such as to make that
entirely possible).  Nevertheless, newsgroups and mailing lists have an
interesting characteristic: no "thoughtful answer" need ever be truly
wasted, even if the person you're answering is not just a troll, but a
robotized one, _because there are other readers_ which may find
interest, amusement, or both, in that answer.  On a newsgroup, or
very-large-audience mailing list, one doesn't really write just for the
person you're nominally answering, but for the public at large.


Alex