Mmmm. Pi Day! The nerdy holiday celebrated by math geeks worldwide. This is the day we gather around to celebrate that amazing little (long) number, pi.
Pi, approximately 3.14159, is the mysterious mathematical constant (number) that represents the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter.
Pi has its day, appropriately, on March 14 (3/14). Often a Pi Day celebration will have an extra special event set for pi minute (at 1:59pm). In the UK, Pi Approximation Day is often celebrated on July 22 (22/7) as 22 divided by 7 is an approximation for pi.
This day brings more fun to math classes around the world then anything else (second only to Math League). I wish you a very Happy Pi Day 2013! Next follows an amazing video from last year.
Celebrate Pi in English Class - Pi Day Beyond Math Class
Can't figure out how to celebrate Pi in your English class? How about writing a story where the number of letters in each consecutive word make up pi? You know... first word 3 letters long, second word 1 letter, third word four letters, ...
For example:
3.1415926535...
Him, I love. I exist, amazingly. So absent bliss. All alone. ...
Another great idea is to write your own Pi-ku math poem. Who wouldn't love a Pi Haiku?
Pi-Day also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday. Here follows a photo of Einstein impersonating Gene Simmons from Kiss.
Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of 'A Brief History of Time', which was an international bestseller. Now Director of Research at the Institute for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge, his other books for the general reader include 'A Briefer History of Time', the essay collection 'Black Holes and Baby Universe' and 'The Universe in a Nutshell'. In 1963, Hawking contracted motor neurone disease and was given two years to live. Yet he went on to Cambridge to become a brilliant researcher and Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Since 1979 he has held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663. Professor Hawking has over a dozen honorary degrees and was awarded the CBE in 1982. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Science. Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.
At the London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony, Stephen Hawking challenged athletes to 'look at the stars'. To huge cheers, Mr Hawking, paralysed and in a wheelchair, kicked off the show with a call for a new age of enlightenment. 'Look up at the stars, and not down at your feet,' he said. 'Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Through a voice synthesiser he added: 'The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world. We are all different, there is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being but we share the same human spirit. What is important is that we have the ability to create. This creativity can take many forms, from physical achievement to theoretical physics. However difficult life may seem there is always something you can do and succeed at.'