14 March (3/14) is observed as Pi Day across the globe. Pi (π) is one of the most well-known mathematical constants, and it is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
As the famous William L. Schaaf (Nature and History of Pi) stated,
“Probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism, misconception, and human interest as the number pi.”
A Brief History of π
Pi (π) has been known to us for almost 4000 years. But for fun, if we calculated the number of seconds in those 4000 years (126,227,808,000 seconds) and calculated pi to that number of places, we would still only approximate the actual value of pi. Here’s a brief history of finding pi.
The ancient Babylonians were able to calculate the area of a circle by taking three times the square of its radius, giving a value of pi = 3. One Babylonian tablet (possibly from 1900–1680 BC) notifies a value of 3.125 for π, a much closer approximation.
The Rhind Papyrus (1650 BC) gives us detailed insight into the mathematics of ancient Egyptian times. The ancient Egyptians used to calculate the area of a circle by a formula that offered the approximate value of 3.1605 for π.
Mathematicians started using the Greek letter π in the late 1700s. William Jones introduced it in 1706, and the use of the symbol was later popularized by Leonhard Euler, who adopted it back in 1737.
An 18th-century French mathematician named Georges Buffon found a way to calculate Pi based on probability. You can now try calculating it yourself at the Exploratorium’s Pi Toss exhibit.
Pi Day Google Calculator
As we all know, calculating the value of pi is a never-ending task. Math enthusiasts play around finding the value of pi by continuing the subtraction till they get tired.
Google has made a small game around this. If you type ‘pi day’ in google, you will have a special calculator. Why special? It has a sparkling pi logo! When you click on that, it will search for pie all by itself. You can simply try to see how far you reach with the value of pi. You can share this Easter egg with your friends who share an interest in maths.
Here is the gif.
