Its Pi Day Today : A Day For Math Geeks!

Pulse

oi-Anjana NS

By Anjana Ns

Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 9:58

Today is a big day for all the mathematicians as it is the day of “Pi". The “Pi day" is special for another reason as it shares the day with the birthday of one of the greatest scientists of the 21st century Albert Einstein. “Pi" is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of a circle's area to the diameter or square of its radius. It is approximately equal to 3.14159265 that is the reason why it is celebrated on 14th of the 3rd month of the year. The United States House of Representatives, in 2009, supported this designation of the Pi Day.

The Pi Day was created by Larry Shaw and first was celebrated in 1989 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. Larry Shaw worked as a Physicist at the Exploratorium. From that day, all schools and colleges across the world celebrate the day by conducting mathematical quizzes and puzzles revolving Pi. Every year the Pi day celebrations happen in many ways, some eat pie, some conduct numerical recitations and even do hot-dog throwing.

Besides, there is also a “Pi Approximation Day" celebration that happens on July 22 (22nd of the 7th month) as the mathematical constant is written in fraction as 22/7. The day is popularly known as the "European Pi Appreciation Day" because the Europeans often write day before month (date format).