SCIENCE/TECHONOLOGY and CULTURE/SOCIETY: Pi Day

Well, I'm a day late on this one. I just learned about it on yesterday and have been kind of busy. But here's some stuff to make up for it!

But I'll start with this quote: Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important. - OlderMusicGeek



From The National Post
Pi Day: It only comes 'round once a year
Posted: March 14, 2008, 3:21 PM by Chris Boutet Science & Health

Well, today's date is 3/14, and you know what that means: That's right, math nerds, it's Pi Day! And the 20th anniversary of the first Pi Day, at that!

So what are you waiting for? Straighten that pocket protectors and start celebrating the number that never ends. If you're at a loss for ideas, John Tierney of the New York Times offers a few celebration suggestions on his science blog, TierneyLab. Our favourite among them, of course, involves eating:

1) Enjoy a piece of pie precisely at the Pi Second, 1:59:26 p.m. (3/14/1:59:26)

Granted, those of us in the Eastern time zone may have missed the boat on this one, but for those of you in B.C. and the Prairies, grab a fork; you've still got time.

To learn more about this important milestone, check out The Exploratorium's 20th Annual Pi Day Celebration page.

Here are a few items from that page. - OlderMusicGeek

Pi-kus - haikus about pi...

Endless digits, yet
No guarantee your pie will
Yield another slice
- ?

A circumference
divide by diameter
irrational pi.
- Paul D
Mnemonics where the number of characters in each word gives you a digit of pi. The first word has 3 characters, the second word has 1 character, the third has 4 characters and so on...

Man, I know, I sense,
struggles to deduce life’s end.
Silly endeavor.
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf

Egg, a beer, a steak
decorates my shower floor.
I’ve drunk overmuch.
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf

It’s a bird, a plane,
appearing in cloudy skies--
It’s brave Superman!
- http://wordways.com/articles/WKPIKU.pdf
A Pi limerick....

Now there is an ancient Greek letter,
And I think no other is better.
It isn't too tall,
It might look very small,
But its digits, they go on forever.
- http://www.kathimitchell.com/piceleb.html

The official Pi Day website
The origin of Pi Day
A short history of pi from San Francisco's Exploratorium
Did a state legislature once pass a law saying pi equals 3?
NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday's story on Pi Day
NPR's The Bryant Park Project's piece on Pi Day
NPR's All Things Considered's story on Pi Day last year