Happy Pi Day
March 13, 2006 11:47 PM Subscribe
In case it has escaped your attention, tomorrow is 14 March which, in American notation, is written 3/14. If you have a certain type of mind you will immediately notice that these digits bear a close approximation to one of the most important numbers in mathematics - pi.
This post was made on 3/14 for a majority of the world.
posted by Mijo Bijo at 11:51 PM on March 13, 2006
posted by Mijo Bijo at 11:51 PM on March 13, 2006
Kate Bush's new album has her singing about a billion digits of pi. It has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded.
posted by Malor at 11:53 PM on March 13, 2006
posted by Malor at 11:53 PM on March 13, 2006
Mmmm. Pie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:57 PM on March 13, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:57 PM on March 13, 2006
And by happy coincidence, Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!
posted by tspae at 12:00 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by tspae at 12:00 AM on March 14, 2006
This post was made on 3/14 for a majority of the world.
Because everyone knows the majority of the world is America.
For most of the rest of the world, the day was 14/3, or 2006-03-14.
posted by Jerub at 12:02 AM on March 14, 2006
Because everyone knows the majority of the world is America.
For most of the rest of the world, the day was 14/3, or 2006-03-14.
posted by Jerub at 12:02 AM on March 14, 2006
I notice that, for my co-workers in Israel, March 14th is habitually written as:
14/3
Which means that it's not PI there until April 31st, a time difference of over two weeks (ahem - WELL over two weeks), as opposed to the usual 10 hours.
WTF kind of math do you call that? My ass...
posted by scarabic at 12:04 AM on March 14, 2006
14/3
Which means that it's not PI there until April 31st, a time difference of over two weeks (ahem - WELL over two weeks), as opposed to the usual 10 hours.
WTF kind of math do you call that? My ass...
posted by scarabic at 12:04 AM on March 14, 2006
See how much better it is when it's done with humor instead of bitter anti-Americanism, Jerub?
Go put the edge back on your "ch." Your attitude is a little less than darling, sexless innocence.
posted by scarabic at 12:07 AM on March 14, 2006
Go put the edge back on your "ch." Your attitude is a little less than darling, sexless innocence.
posted by scarabic at 12:07 AM on March 14, 2006
I intend to share this pi post with twenty-two seventh graders in my circle, one of whom is Ray Show.
posted by rob511 at 12:10 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by rob511 at 12:10 AM on March 14, 2006
i vividly remember sitting in the playground when i was a kid and suddenly realising that at just after half past twelve that day the time was going to be 12:34 5/6/78, and wanting to run around and tell everyone because no one else in the world seemed to have noticed. In my childhood world view I thought that it should have been announced on the news and that major international celebrations should have been organised. I wonder if anyone else realised.
posted by silence at 12:32 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by silence at 12:32 AM on March 14, 2006
But it won't really be pi day until 2015...3/14/15.
And, early but related: National Mole Day, "October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23)". Cute!
posted by lhall at 12:33 AM on March 14, 2006
And, early but related: National Mole Day, "October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., Mole Day commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23)". Cute!
posted by lhall at 12:33 AM on March 14, 2006
Which reminds me of one of the most remarkable/annoying domain names ever purchased . . .
posted by spock at 12:50 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by spock at 12:50 AM on March 14, 2006
The Exploratorium in San Francisco celebrates pi day annually.
posted by duende at 1:06 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by duende at 1:06 AM on March 14, 2006
My motto is Eta Beta Pi.
What do you guys do when your (digital) watch is 13:37?
posted by Grums at 1:21 AM on March 14, 2006
What do you guys do when your (digital) watch is 13:37?
posted by Grums at 1:21 AM on March 14, 2006
i vividly remember sitting in the playground when i was a kid and suddenly realising that at just after half past twelve that day the time was going to be 12:34 5/6/78, and wanting to run around and tell everyone because no one else in the world seemed to have noticed. In my childhood world view I thought that it should have been announced on the news and that major international celebrations should have been organised. I wonder if anyone else realised.
posted by silence at 12:32 AM PST on March 14 [!]
I did, I was twelve and geeky
duende - that's one of the links :)
posted by infini at 1:22 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by silence at 12:32 AM PST on March 14 [!]
I did, I was twelve and geeky
duende - that's one of the links :)
posted by infini at 1:22 AM on March 14, 2006
silence: 11:11:11 11/11/11 will be better, as well as universal not matter how you write the date.
Pi is pretty cool, but more so when you realise the various applications. I knew for a while that 1 + 1/4 + 1/9 ... (the infinite sum of the reciprocal squares) was Pi^2/6, but it wasn't until I learnt how to show it with Fourier transforms last year that I really appreciated it.
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:32 AM on March 14, 2006
Pi is pretty cool, but more so when you realise the various applications. I knew for a while that 1 + 1/4 + 1/9 ... (the infinite sum of the reciprocal squares) was Pi^2/6, but it wasn't until I learnt how to show it with Fourier transforms last year that I really appreciated it.
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:32 AM on March 14, 2006
The rest of the world celebrates Pi Day on 22nd July.
posted by cillit bang at 1:40 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 1:40 AM on March 14, 2006
What cillit bang said: for much of antiquity, pi was defined as 22/7, so July 22nd is a much better date, as 3/14 is well, 0.214.
posted by costas at 2:06 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by costas at 2:06 AM on March 14, 2006
Fine, as long as we celebrate happy Eye day on the -1st. I suggest we celebrate in the square.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:11 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:11 AM on March 14, 2006
this post would be a lot cooler if it were 1592 and not 2006.
(in no small part because it would've been much, much more difficult to find an internet connection back then.)
posted by ab3 at 2:13 AM on March 14, 2006
(in no small part because it would've been much, much more difficult to find an internet connection back then.)
posted by ab3 at 2:13 AM on March 14, 2006
That's ridiculous! 3.14 isn't pi!
posted by thirteenkiller at 2:35 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by thirteenkiller at 2:35 AM on March 14, 2006
An annoying PI link from our friends at YTMND (don't say I didn't warn you).
posted by AndrewStephens at 2:36 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by AndrewStephens at 2:36 AM on March 14, 2006
Sadly, though, there is no April 31st. Hence, most of the rest of the world will never have a pi-day.
:(
Maybe that's why May 1st is so popular around the world!
posted by darkstar at 2:57 AM on March 14, 2006
:(
Maybe that's why May 1st is so popular around the world!
posted by darkstar at 2:57 AM on March 14, 2006
Malor: "Kate Bush's new album has her singing about a billion digits of pi. It has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded."
She also gets it wrong.
posted by Plutor at 3:59 AM on March 14, 2006
She also gets it wrong.
posted by Plutor at 3:59 AM on March 14, 2006
Even more importantly, 3/14 - today - is Steak and BJ Day. Oh Honey...
posted by davelog at 5:14 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by davelog at 5:14 AM on March 14, 2006
(The amazing thing about that summation is that it allows you to get the nth digit of Pi without computing the preceding ones - well, the nth digit in the hexadecimal expansion, anyway. No corresponding formula is known that would allow decimal digit extraction for Pi.)
posted by Wolfdog at 5:46 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by Wolfdog at 5:46 AM on March 14, 2006
No pi thread should go without a link back to this, perhaps my favorite thing that Metafilter has shown me evar.
posted by TheWash at 5:54 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by TheWash at 5:54 AM on March 14, 2006
bitter anti-Americanism ???
wtf? I think perhaps your bitter-anti-american-o-meter needs to be recalibrated, at least from where I'm sitting.
OK, so maybe Jerub could have given Mijo Bijo the benefit of the doubt in assuming that the what was meant was "This post was made on March 14th for a majority of the world" i.e. in most of the world, the date was already March 14th, rather than arguing over the literal representation thereof, but I hardly think pointing out that majority of the world uses a notation different than the (arguably illogical - oops, bitter anti-Americanism alert!) "month/date" convention we use in the States, even in a mildly snarky fashion, called for quite that kind of reaction.
But what do I know? I'm all bitter and anti-American. And I'm a liberal. Godless liberal, excuse me. Commie bastard that I am. Make that stinking godless liberal Commie Nazi asshole shithead bastard. Christ! Oh, blaspheming stinking godless etc. etc.
posted by kcds at 6:03 AM on March 14, 2006
wtf? I think perhaps your bitter-anti-american-o-meter needs to be recalibrated, at least from where I'm sitting.
OK, so maybe Jerub could have given Mijo Bijo the benefit of the doubt in assuming that the what was meant was "This post was made on March 14th for a majority of the world" i.e. in most of the world, the date was already March 14th, rather than arguing over the literal representation thereof, but I hardly think pointing out that majority of the world uses a notation different than the (arguably illogical - oops, bitter anti-Americanism alert!) "month/date" convention we use in the States, even in a mildly snarky fashion, called for quite that kind of reaction.
But what do I know? I'm all bitter and anti-American. And I'm a liberal. Godless liberal, excuse me. Commie bastard that I am. Make that stinking godless liberal Commie Nazi asshole shithead bastard. Christ! Oh, blaspheming stinking godless etc. etc.
posted by kcds at 6:03 AM on March 14, 2006
In fact, it's been proven that the sort of formula given by Wolfdog can't get you a decimal expansion of pi (only binary bases permitted) - so it's not even like 'no corresponding formula is known'. It's that there is no corresponding formula.
Doesn't mean there isn't some other sort of formula though.
From towards the end of BBP-Type formulas at mathworld.wolfram.com.
posted by edd at 6:18 AM on March 14, 2006
Doesn't mean there isn't some other sort of formula though.
From towards the end of BBP-Type formulas at mathworld.wolfram.com.
posted by edd at 6:18 AM on March 14, 2006
She also gets it wrong.
Not really, there's a small error in the printed lyrics which the website you linked to mistakenly confirms as being also present in the recording. Also there's a big chunk missing from the middle later on which is clearly due to editing. I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt here.
posted by teleskiving at 6:54 AM on March 14, 2006
Not really, there's a small error in the printed lyrics which the website you linked to mistakenly confirms as being also present in the recording. Also there's a big chunk missing from the middle later on which is clearly due to editing. I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt here.
posted by teleskiving at 6:54 AM on March 14, 2006
I remember a chemistry professor telling us not to get hung up on even powers of 10, He said "Mother Nature has e fingers and pi toes".
posted by 445supermag at 7:18 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by 445supermag at 7:18 AM on March 14, 2006
Personally, being in a dd/mm/yyyy culture, I'd prefer 22/7 myself.
posted by the cydonian at 7:26 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by the cydonian at 7:26 AM on March 14, 2006
hmmm.. it'll be beter on March 14, 2015
3/14/15 9:26:53
of course 6/6/6 is only a few months away.
posted by SirOmega at 7:53 AM on March 14, 2006
3/14/15 9:26:53
of course 6/6/6 is only a few months away.
posted by SirOmega at 7:53 AM on March 14, 2006
I hope no one missed 5:55:55 5/5/5 last year. It was also the 125th day of the year . I had a party!
posted by arialblack at 8:13 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by arialblack at 8:13 AM on March 14, 2006
Full video of the pi song sampled in the ytmnd page linked above. kinda funny, makes me glad today is pi day and not July 22nd. (though y'all had convinced me to jump on that boat earlier today)
posted by jrb223 at 8:29 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by jrb223 at 8:29 AM on March 14, 2006
I think perhaps your bitter-anti-american-o-meter needs to be recalibrated
Heh. You are completely right, of course. Thank you. That was an overstatement.
posted by scarabic at 8:39 AM on March 14, 2006
Heh. You are completely right, of course. Thank you. That was an overstatement.
posted by scarabic at 8:39 AM on March 14, 2006
There was a really cool pic on flickr that I saw (I think last year) of an amazing pie done up with a big pi symbol on it for Pi Day. But I can't find it. It was cool, trust me.
posted by beth at 8:45 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by beth at 8:45 AM on March 14, 2006
Its 216 digits and I have the number!!! Its in my head!!!
posted by j-urb at 9:37 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by j-urb at 9:37 AM on March 14, 2006
and it's 1:59 by my watch.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:41 AM on March 14, 2006
posted by Smedleyman at 11:41 AM on March 14, 2006
Dear God, do people no longer realize that pretty much the first web goddess (and pi fanatic) was *sigh* Eve Astrid Andersson? I mean, c'mon, you've had over a decade to get this!
posted by kimota at 5:10 PM on March 14, 2006
posted by kimota at 5:10 PM on March 14, 2006
scarabic, no problem at all, glad I could help out in some small way. It just so happens I'm offering $5 off (with the coupon below) bitter-anti-american-o-meter recalibration, or $10 off if you combine it with a priorities realignment. If you act now, I'll even throw in a sense-of-humor lube and snark filter replacement for free (void where prohibited, some restrictions apply, prices slightly higher in AK and HI, price & participation may vary. Sorry, no COD)
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posted by kcds at 5:02 AM on March 15, 2006
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posted by kcds at 5:02 AM on March 15, 2006
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posted by ronenosity at 11:50 PM on March 13, 2006