Pi Day – A real slice of irrational mathematics
TORONTO, Thursday, March 12, 2020 – Pi Day is March 14 and while some might think it means nibbling on apple or cherry pie, it’s actually a day to celebrate a mathematical tool. York University math Professor Patrick Ingram can discuss the importance of Pi and why it has its own day.
Pi is used to calculate a host of things in math, physics and engineering, including by NASA in its search for exoplanets. Most will remember using it to calculate the circumference of a circle in school. Although it’s been around for thousands of years, it only got its name in the 1700s.
One of the fascinations of Pi, is it’s infinite. Although Pi has been calculated to more than 31 trillion digits, that’s not where it ends.
March 14, or 3.14, is also the day Albert Einstein was born and the day Stephen Hawking died. Coincidence?
Ingram, of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the Faculty of Science, can talk about some of the fun, perhaps surprising, facts around Pi and why it receives so much attention.
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Sandra McLean, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 2097 or 416-272-6317, sandramc@yorku.ca
