March 14th has always been considered “Pi Day” because 3/14 represents 3.14, the rounded value of the mathematical constant pi, and people think that is pretty cool. The problem is that pi does not equal 3.14, but rather 3.14159265358979323846…you get the idea. Pi is infinite, but 3/14 has only been able to cover the first three digits for the last 99 years. We’ve had a few 3/14/1X’s the past few years, which is cute, but it isn’t the real deal.
This post is queued up to be posted on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53:58 AM. Assuming science doesn’t figure out how to make us live forever, this will be the coolest Pi Day of our lives. Since you may have missed the AM ceremony, I encourage everyone to reflect on the universe for the next 12 hours and take a millisecond or two after 9:26 PM tonight to honor this amazing number. Without it, our world and everyone in it would have never existed at all.
This is a painting I did a few years ago to help me memorize Pi. Growing up, one of the most impressive things (to me) about one of my uncles was that he could recite Pi to more than one hundred digits. One day I decided I wanted to learn Pi, too, so I did. It took me about 6 weeks to do it and I “studied” by just counting as high as I could go without looking two or three times a day. I now consider my ability to recite these 102 digits in about 15 seconds as one of the greatest achievements in my life. Yes, that is just as sad as it sounds.
I wanted to be able to say “I can recite pi to more than one hundred digits,” so I decided to learn it up to 102 digits. That might seem like a random number, but it was intentional so nobody could ever ask me if “more than one hundred digits” includes the 3 at the beginning. The 102 digits does include the 3, but it doesn’t matter – I’d still be at 101 (and over one hundred) without it! Yay! It also fit the pattern of the painting really well, since three, point, and eight are all five letters long. The weird part is that I really have no clue which number is next. Memorizing Pi to 103 digits just seemed a bit excessive, I guess.
Enjoy a nerdy song to get your day started. Happy Pi Day!