Annual π Day Missive from Nick Yates ’06
Once again, Pi Day has arrived!
As you probably know, pi (π) is a mathematical constant found in circles and throughout mathematics! Since pi’s decimal expansion starts off 3.14…, and today’s date is 3/14, we celebrate pi and all things mathematical on this day!
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3.141592653589793238462643383279…, to be a bit more precise! Image copyright David Reimannn.
MY TOP PI WAYS TO CELEBRATE PI DAY
1. Share pi (and pie) with friends
2. Read and learn more about pi
3. Contemplate the wonder of the universe and mathematics’ role within it
.14159…. Shout “Happy Pi Day!” and/or “Happy Pi Moment” at the top of your lungs when the appropriate time occurs
Art from pi’s digits, copyright Martin Krzywinski.
PIECES OF PI
Related to #1 and #2 above, here are a few cool tidbits about pi and pi day:
A piem, that is, a poem where the number of letters in each word yields the sequence of pi’s digits. Though I’ve discussed several of these before (most notably, Poe, E. Near a Raven), I had not run across this century-old piem before this week!
A statistical analysis on the probability of writing piems or other pilish phrases by accident!
If you’re a fan of mathematical art, check out this Numberphile video explaining some of the art I’ve featured in today’s post, and also this gallery of mathy art from this winter’s Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore!
Challenge yourself with some pi puzzles from Brainfreeze!
Some other ways to celebrate can be found in my (Pi Day – 2) post here.
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More pi artwork, copyright Cristian Ilies Vasile / Martin Krzywinski.
PI PAST
I cannot believe it’s been 10 years since my first pi day expansive email that set up (or continued) a crazy propaganda war between the mathematical constants pi and e. (Going back even further, by my count I’ve been celebrating pi day in some form or another for almost 18 years now!) Just about each year since 2004 I have sent out my annual missive on Pi Day, by email and/or by blog (a few years when March was especially busy for me, I sent out messages on other pi-related days). A list can be found in yesterday’s pre-pi-day post here.
One more, also copyright Cristian Ilies Vasile / Martin Krzywinski
Have a great Pi Day today, and many more!
Nick
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