In 1897, an Indiana physician had a state representative introduce a bill in the Indiana General Assembly aimed at solving several problems, including squaring the circle. This amounted to assigning several values to π.
In particular, near the end of section 2, the text states that "the ratio of the diameter to the circumference is as five-fourths to four; and because of these facts and because the rule currently in use does not work mathematically in both directions, it should be rejected as wholly inadequate and misleading in its practical applications". A ratio of five-fourths (equal to 1.25) to four means taking as the value of π.
This physician, Edwin Goodwin (c. 1825–1905), who was also an amateur mathematician, had published his "research" in one of the earliest issues of what is now a prestigious mathematical journal, the *American Mathematical Monthly* (AMM for short). At the time, its standing was evidently less secure!
Remarkably, the bill was approved by several committees before being put to a vote in the Senate on February 12, 1897. Fortunately, the full Senate did not pass it, ultimately deciding that no law could establish mathematical truths… But they apparently took no position on whether the bill's contents were actually true!
