born 429, Jiankang, China
died 500, China
Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and engineer.
About 462 he proposed a new calendar system that would provide a more precise number of lunations per year and take into consideration the precession of the equinoxes. His Daming calendar was finally adopted in 510 through the efforts of his son, Zu Gengzhi . Li Chunfeng called Zu Chongzhi the best mathematician ever and gave him credit for three approximations of π: 227, 355113, and the interval 3.1415926/n metrology , and he constructed several devices, such as a semilegendary "south-pointing carriage." The carriage was topped by a symbolic figure that, once properly aligned, would always point to the south.