14 March,2021 01:04 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day as well as International Mathematics Day. Image for representational purpose only. Photo Courtesy: istock
We have all been taught about the mathematical constant Pi in school, and more often than not, it was a competition about who could remember the highest number of decimal places for it.
Many people have taken their love for numbers to pursue it as mathematicians, and unsurprisingly, Indians have been an important part of the process over the centuries.
There are so many fascinating facts about Pi. For starters, Pi is the symbol used by mathematicians to represent the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Now that its definition is out of the way, here are six other unique facts that will make you fall in love with Pi again, after all these years.
It's all in the date
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 because if you consider the mm/dd format, it simply represents the first three digits of the value of Pi, which is 3.14. It is known to be founded by physicist Larry Shaw in 1988, when he hosted the first known large-scale celebration at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Among many activities, it had people eating fruit pies because of the fact that Pi and pie are homophones, and pies are circular, which is the basis of the whole concept.
International Day of Mathematics
In 2019, UNESCO, at its 40th General Conference, designated Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics. With Pi being widely popular around the world, it is also used to create awareness about mathematics and the role in plays in the UN's Sustainability Development goals, and in reinforcing the two UNESCO priorities: Africa and Gender Equality, according to the UNESCO website.
Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking
Pi Day also happens to be the birthday of Albert Einstein, considered as one of the greatest physicists of all time. He was born on March 14 in 1879. Interestingly, English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking passed away on the same date in 2018.
Celebrating decimal places
In 2015, March 14 was celebrated as Super Pi Day because at 9:26:53 on the clock, the date and time together represent the first 10 digits of the Pi value, which is 3.141592653. This particular occurrence happens only once in a century, and that is why it is very exciting for maths enthusiasts around the world. Otherwise, annually, the celebration starts at 1:59 PM as that is the approximate value of Pi up to five decimal places.
Totally irrational
Being an irrational number, the value of Pi, when calculated, can go on forever. It is no surprise then that Pi intrigues many mathematicians, who truly are always busy trying to find its true value.
The Indian connection
In India, mathematician-astronomer Aryabhata is known to have calculated the value up to three decimal places. According to him, the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000, will be 62832, and the value equals to 3.1416. In the last century, Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan discovered a formula that includes a series for Pi to help calculate the value faster, and is also the basis of many algorithms used to calculate the value of Pi today.
