Rabbi Nehemiah

Who is Rabbi Nehemiah?

Rabbi Nehemiah was an Israelite mathematician, circa AD 150.

He is attributed as the author of the Mishnat ha-Middot, making it the earliest known Hebrew text on geometry, although other historians assign to a later period by an unknown author. The Mishnat ha-Middot argues against the common belief that the Bible defines the geometric ratio π as being exactly equal to 3, based on the description in 1 Kings 7:23 of the great bowl situated outside the Temple of Jerusalem as having a diameter of 10 cubits and a circumference of 30 cubits. He maintained that the diameter of the bowl was measured from the outside brim, while the circumference was measured along the inner brim, which with a brim that is one handbreadth wide yields a ratio from the circular rim closer to the actual value of π.