Indian mathematics
Ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians and Babylonians, required fairly accurate approximations of for practical computations. Around 250 BC, the Greek mathematician Archimedes created an algorithm to approximate with arbitrary accuracy. In the 5th century AD, Chinese mathematics approximated to seven digits, while Indian mathematics made a five-digit approximation, both using geometrical techniques. The first exact formula for , based on infinite series, was discovered a millennium later, when in the 14th century the Madhava–Leibniz series was discovered in Indian mathematics.