It is 30th anniversary of
Pi Day and the world can’t keep calm. Just when
Google updated its interesting doodle dedicated to
Pi Day at midnight, the discussions around this have been doing rounds all over. Pi Day 2018 3.14.2018 is also the day the great physicist
Stephen Hawking died at age 76. Some people believe the ancient pyramids of Giza in Egypt were built on the principles of pi.
What is Pi Day?
So it is Pi Day and not Pie day but since the association is also with geometrical shapes and symbols, images of pies make it to the interesting Google doodle.
Why March 14th or the significance of Pi Day?
3,1 and 4 are the first three significant digits of π and hence March 14th (03.14) was chosen as the date to celebrate this mathematical constant. Yes, when it is about mathematics, nothing is illogical! The earliest known official or large-scale celebration of Pi Day was organized by
Larry Shaw (popularly known as the ‘Prince of Pi) in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where Shaw worked as a physicist.
Pi Day Fun Fact: Pi Day is celebrated around the world on March 14 or 3.14 and officially kicks off at 1:59 pm. Now do the math: when combined the date and time results in 3.14159, the approximate numerical value of pi.
(Source: RandomHistory.com)
History
Pi (π) is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is a constant number which means that for all circles of any size, Pi will remain the same. The symbol of the Greek letter “π” was first used by William Jones in 1706. A ‘p’ was chosen for ‘perimeter’ of circles, and the use of π became popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician
Leonhard Euler in 1737.
According to Piday.org, Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.
Math Holiday
Pi Day was officially recognised in 2009 and the celebrations were filled by eating circular treats - fruits pies and pizza along with dressing like
Albert Einstein since the coincides with the birthday of the genius as well. In 2015, Pi Day fanatics had a special treat. Celebrations took place on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 a.m., the numerical date and time together representing the first 10 digits of pi, 3.141592653.
Pi fanatics celebrate this day with great enthusiasm. There are treats, printed tees, theme parties and mathematical games to mark the significance of the occasion.
