Pi Day
According to theorists from Weber to Habermas, the good news about modernity was that it managed, for the first time in history, to fully differentiate the Big Three. That is, to differentiate art, morals, and science; of self, culture, and nature. These domains were no longer fused with each other, no longer syncretically fused and confused.
- Ken Wilbur, A Brief History of Everything
Happy Pi Day! A mishmash of mathematics and cuisine, Ken Wilbur might raise an eyebrow at food and math theory coming together in a good old-fashioned science camp romp. With apologies to Mr. Wilbur, we can separate our science and food facts later, add back that Pi(e). Really then, what's the big deal over the basic mathematical meaning of Pi and it's relationship to the calendar? Well, Pi Day is observed on March 14 because of the date's representation as 3/14 in month/day date format. This representation adheres to the commonly used approximation of 3.14 for π. (The fractional approximation of π, 22⁄7, resembles the date July 22 in the day/month format, where it is written 22/7. Pi Approximation Day is therefore celebrated on July 22. Two pi Day is informally celebrated on June 28. (2π≈6.28) More than you wanted to know, right? Wait, it gets better - !)
According to the good folks at Wikipedia (and who can doubt Wiki, right?) Dr. Larry Shaw created Pi Day in 1988. The holiday was celebrated at the San Francisco Exploratorium where Shaw worked as a physicist, with staff and public goofily marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The Exploratorium continues to hold "bring your own" Pi Day celebrations.
On Pi Day 2004, Daniel Tammet recited 2 964 decimal digits of π. (Wow, what I wouldn't give for just a stamp size fraction of that guy's immediate recall memory.)
On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (HRES 224),recognizing March 14, 2009, as National Pi Day. Of course it was non-binding...I mean, not everyone likes pie. And for Pi Day 2010, Google presented a Google Doodle celebrating the holiday, with the word Google laid over images of circles and pi symbols. They have a lot of time on their hands there at Google apparently.
But think of this (Thank you, Greg): Three years from now, will there be a worldwide server crash at 9:26:54? No doubt the modernists arrived on the scene just in time. I don't know it I could accept blending my math and my food pyramid indefinitely. I mean before modernity, Wilbur points out the common refutation for Galileo's discovery of the moons of Jupiter asserted that if animals had seven orifices (not to mention other similarities in nature "too tedious to enumerate," such as the seven metals, etc.) there must be only seven planets. No more. We've got Mercury, remember? A full house.
Might be time to take the pie out of Pi, folks.
- Ken Wilbur, A Brief History of Everything
Happy Pi Day! A mishmash of mathematics and cuisine, Ken Wilbur might raise an eyebrow at food and math theory coming together in a good old-fashioned science camp romp. With apologies to Mr. Wilbur, we can separate our science and food facts later, add back that Pi(e). Really then, what's the big deal over the basic mathematical meaning of Pi and it's relationship to the calendar? Well, Pi Day is observed on March 14 because of the date's representation as 3/14 in month/day date format. This representation adheres to the commonly used approximation of 3.14 for π. (The fractional approximation of π, 22⁄7, resembles the date July 22 in the day/month format, where it is written 22/7. Pi Approximation Day is therefore celebrated on July 22. Two pi Day is informally celebrated on June 28. (2π≈6.28) More than you wanted to know, right? Wait, it gets better - !)
According to the good folks at Wikipedia (and who can doubt Wiki, right?) Dr. Larry Shaw created Pi Day in 1988. The holiday was celebrated at the San Francisco Exploratorium where Shaw worked as a physicist, with staff and public goofily marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The Exploratorium continues to hold "bring your own" Pi Day celebrations.
On Pi Day 2004, Daniel Tammet recited 2 964 decimal digits of π. (Wow, what I wouldn't give for just a stamp size fraction of that guy's immediate recall memory.)
On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (HRES 224),recognizing March 14, 2009, as National Pi Day. Of course it was non-binding...I mean, not everyone likes pie. And for Pi Day 2010, Google presented a Google Doodle celebrating the holiday, with the word Google laid over images of circles and pi symbols. They have a lot of time on their hands there at Google apparently.
But think of this (Thank you, Greg): Three years from now, will there be a worldwide server crash at 9:26:54? No doubt the modernists arrived on the scene just in time. I don't know it I could accept blending my math and my food pyramid indefinitely. I mean before modernity, Wilbur points out the common refutation for Galileo's discovery of the moons of Jupiter asserted that if animals had seven orifices (not to mention other similarities in nature "too tedious to enumerate," such as the seven metals, etc.) there must be only seven planets. No more. We've got Mercury, remember? A full house.
Might be time to take the pie out of Pi, folks.
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