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Linear Measurement versus Square Measurement; or, Why the Queen Used Two Pi R

1988; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; Volume: 81; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5951/mt.81.1.0051

2330-0582

Margaret W. Maxfield,

History and Theory of Mathematics

One of the shakiest real-estate deals in history came about when, according to ancient legend, Queen Dido's brother Pygmalion killed Dido's husband for his wealth and Dido fled to Africa. She contracted to buy just the land she could mark with an ox hide. Since that did not appear to be much land, she was able to get a low price. However, the seller reckoned on area and Dido proceeded to use a perimeter. According to the story in Vergil's Aeneid (see, e.g., Collier's Encyclopedia [1980] under “Dido”), she worked the ox hide into a fine, supple leather and pared off the thinnest strips possible. Then she “marked” so much land by enclosing it in a rawhide perimeter that it later became the city of Carthage