The Mathematics Department is celebrating Pi Day today! (That's the symbol π (pi), not pie. Sorry, there's no food involved.) We celebrate Pi Day on 3/14, since pi is approximately 3.14. This year is a special anniversary. The Greek letterπ (pi) was first used in 1706 by William Jones to represent the famous ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. Therefore, in 2006 we are celebrating the 300th anniversary of the symbol for pi, though the concept of this ratio has been known for thousands of years.
Are you a pi fan? Can you recite the value of pi to more than 4 or 5 decimal places? As part of Pi Day, we're looking for the college champions in memorizing the value of pi. There will be two categories: student, and faculty/staff. To enter the competition, visit the Math Department at Brighton (5th or 6th Floor of Building 8) or Damon (4th Floor) today (Tuesday), and recite pi to any available faculty member. We're willing to bet that you can't recite all of the digits, so those who know the most digits will win!
Peter Collinge, Chair
Mathematics
03/14/2006 |