Of the seven wonders of the world, only one has survived to this day—the Great Pyramid of Giza, the most magnificent structure of antiquity.
When scientists studied this monument of Egyptian architecture, they were astonished: the height of the pyramid, as calculations revealed, is equal to one billionth of the distance to the Sun. If you divide the perimeter of the pyramid’s base by its doubled height, you get 3.14159—a number that European mathematicians only discovered in the 16th century. Archimedes knew only three digits of the number “pi” (the ratio of the circumference to the diameter), while the builders of the pyramid, 3,000 years before him, had it calculated to six decimal places.
And that’s not all. If you divide the length of one side of the base by the exact length of a year—365.2422 days—you arrive at one ten-millionth of the Earth’s polar axis. This level of precision would make even modern astronomers envious!
Moreover, the pyramid is aligned with the cardinal directions with astonishing accuracy! Some scholars believe this reflects the profound knowledge of ancient architects. Others are convinced that these calculations are merely a game of numbers. Math enthusiasts can join in on this debate.