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Today Is Pi Day! Enjoy A Piece of Pie
March 14, 2024 at 07:42 AM EDT
By WeatherBug
Today is Pi day, so go out and enjoy the magical day the number 3.14 brings to the world.
For those who are wondering what the heck Pi Day is... it's a day to commemorate the mathematical number Pi.
March 14th marks the day on which math enthusiast and pie lovers alike celebrate it, and this is by no accident. In fact the reason why it is celebrated on March 14th is because of the symbolic representation of the date. Pi day lands on the 14th day of the third month of the year, making it 3/14, which happens to be the first 3 significant figures of the mathematical constant, 3.14!
A quick crash course on those who may be a bit rusty on their mathematics, Pi is a constant number that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is very unique, in that it is the same for every circle, regardless of its size, and that it is an irrational, transcendental number. This means that it continues on infinitely, without repetition or pattern!
The number Pi has a rich history that extends way back to 2000 B.C. to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians! However, it wasn`t even referred to as Pi until 1706, when William Jones first proposed to use the Greek letter Pi to symbolize the constant. Even then, it took until 1737 when the famous Swiss Mathematician Leonhard Euler popularized the use of Pi!
Most of us have seen Pi used in simple geometry and trigonometry, but it also has uses in the intricate analysis of complex numbers and infinite series. Even outside of mathematics, Pi lends itself to help explain physical phenomena, even the weather! Although many of us only remember the number up to a few digits, modern technology has allowed humans to calculate Pi to more than one trillion digits!
Now that we are all up to speed on Pi, you may be wondering just when and how the celebration of this number came about.
Pi day had an unusual beginning, with the earliest known official celebration organized by Physicist Larry Shaw on March 14, 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. On that fateful day, Shaw gathered around with colleagues and celebrated Pi by marching circularly around the Exploratorium, regaling in deep discussions about the constant, while feasting on a delicious variety of pies!
Since 1988, the celebration of Pi day has grown every year! It has become so popular, that in 2009, March 14th became officially designated as Pi Day by the United States House of Representatives.
Whether you enjoy the mathematics, the history or just pie, there is a piece of Pi day everyone can enjoy! So, take a few moments today to enjoy Pi(e).
Image: Pi Mosaic at the entrance of the Mathematics building at TU-Berlin in Berlin Germany. (Holger Motzkau via Wikimedia)
For those who are wondering what the heck Pi Day is... it's a day to commemorate the mathematical number Pi.
March 14th marks the day on which math enthusiast and pie lovers alike celebrate it, and this is by no accident. In fact the reason why it is celebrated on March 14th is because of the symbolic representation of the date. Pi day lands on the 14th day of the third month of the year, making it 3/14, which happens to be the first 3 significant figures of the mathematical constant, 3.14!
A quick crash course on those who may be a bit rusty on their mathematics, Pi is a constant number that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is very unique, in that it is the same for every circle, regardless of its size, and that it is an irrational, transcendental number. This means that it continues on infinitely, without repetition or pattern!
The number Pi has a rich history that extends way back to 2000 B.C. to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians! However, it wasn`t even referred to as Pi until 1706, when William Jones first proposed to use the Greek letter Pi to symbolize the constant. Even then, it took until 1737 when the famous Swiss Mathematician Leonhard Euler popularized the use of Pi!
Most of us have seen Pi used in simple geometry and trigonometry, but it also has uses in the intricate analysis of complex numbers and infinite series. Even outside of mathematics, Pi lends itself to help explain physical phenomena, even the weather! Although many of us only remember the number up to a few digits, modern technology has allowed humans to calculate Pi to more than one trillion digits!
Now that we are all up to speed on Pi, you may be wondering just when and how the celebration of this number came about.
Pi day had an unusual beginning, with the earliest known official celebration organized by Physicist Larry Shaw on March 14, 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. On that fateful day, Shaw gathered around with colleagues and celebrated Pi by marching circularly around the Exploratorium, regaling in deep discussions about the constant, while feasting on a delicious variety of pies!
Since 1988, the celebration of Pi day has grown every year! It has become so popular, that in 2009, March 14th became officially designated as Pi Day by the United States House of Representatives.
Whether you enjoy the mathematics, the history or just pie, there is a piece of Pi day everyone can enjoy! So, take a few moments today to enjoy Pi(e).
Image: Pi Mosaic at the entrance of the Mathematics building at TU-Berlin in Berlin Germany. (Holger Motzkau via Wikimedia)