Happy Pi Day

[Jesper de Jong]

Today is 3/14 (if you write the date in American style).

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286 208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481 117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233 786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006 606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146 951941511609433057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548074462379962749 567351885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737190 702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827 785771342757789609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050792279689258923 542019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960518707211349999998372978049 951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522308253344685035261931188171010 003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882 353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909216420198938095257201 065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413891249721775 283479131515574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754637464939319 255060400927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767 837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752 162056966024058038150193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796 782354781636009341721641219924586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995 690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807 426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350 141441973568548161361157352552133475741849468438523323907394143334547762416862 518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653466804988627232791786 085784383827967976681454100953883786360950680064225125205117392984896084128488 626945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917 287467764657573962413890865832645995813390478027590099465764078951269468398352 595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476990902640136394437455305068203496 252451749399651431429809190659250937221696461515709858387410597885959772975498 930161753928468138268683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273 644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244136549762780797715691435997 700129616089441694868555848406353422072225828488648158456028506016842739452267 467678895252138522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456498035593634568174 324112515076069479451096596094025228879710893145669136867228748940560101503308 617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821682998948 722658804857564014270477555132379641451523746234364542858444795265867821051141 354735739523113427166102135969536231442952484937187110145765403590279934403742 007310578539062198387447808478489683321445713868751943506430218453191048481005 370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919 561814675142691239748940907186494231961567945208095146550225231603881930142093 76213785595663893778708303906979207734672218256259966...

Some people think they can change the laws of nature, or, this is what happens if you let people who have no idea what they're talking about, make laws:

[Martin Vashko]

Pi day? Are you sure? My calculator thinks today is 0.21428571428571428571428571428571 day...

[James X Peterson]

Hi,


how are you caluclating the day in the terms of number?/


Regards,
James

[J. Kevin Robbins]

[Jesper de Jong]

James Peterson wrote:how are you caluclating the day in the terms of number?

I guess you're wondering why Martin thinks it's 0.21428571428571428571428571428571 day.

Hint: What is 3 divided by 14?

[fred rosenberger]

I still prefer to think of it as "Half Tau day". (link)

[Matthew Brown]

Given the interests round here, people might be interested in this:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/SporcleAdmin/kinds-of-pie

[Akhilesh Trivedi]

One question Pi was discovered or invented?

[Bear Bibeault]

The same way Isaac Newton invented gravity.

[Martin Vashko]

Akhilesh Trivedi wrote:One question Pi was discovered or invented?

Of course it is an invention!

Mathematics itself is an invention. It doesn't exist by itself. Pi was established as part of the mathematics, so it is an invention too.

You might say that Pi exists "physically" - after all, it is in certain sense present in every circle or sphere, and the universe contains lots of spheres (starts and planets, for example). But! These spheres are not perfect, and even if there was a perfect sphere, due to quantum theory limitations no one can measure the circumference and volume precise enough to obtain Pi this way. Further, our space is actually not euclidean, which means that even for a perfect circle the ratio of its circumference to its diameter is not exactly equal to Pi - due to the curved space the perfect circle resides in. (Yes, the sum of angles in a triangle is not 180 degrees. They lied to us in school!)

As has been shown, Pi it is just an abstract, idealized concept, it doesn't physically exist in the universe. Therefore it couldn't be discovered and was necessarily invented.

Q.E.D.

[Bear Bibeault]

Putting aside quantum variation, I'd argue that it's no more an "invention" than other physical values such as the speed of light (yes, I know it varies slightly).

[Martin Vashko]

Actually, I agree with you, Bear. I intended to make a tongue-in-cheek post here in MD, but after re-reading it I see I've somehow forgotten to put the tongue-in-cheek parts in it...

[Jesper de Jong]

Actually, whether mathematics is invented or discovered is one of those questions that philosophers have been arguing about for thousands of years.

Start here: Philosophy of mathematics

[Jesper de Jong]

π π π Happy Pi Day again! π π π

[J. Kevin Robbins]

Already? Time really does pass faster as you get older.

btw, next year will be a very special Pi day; 3-14-15

[Jesper de Jong]

[Frank Silbermann]

Bear Bibeault wrote:The same way Isaac Newton invented gravity.

According to quantum theory, if Isaac Newton had not observed gravity it might not exist.

[Greg Charles]

Frank Silbermann wrote:

Bear Bibeault wrote:The same way Isaac Newton invented gravity.

According to quantum theory, if Isaac Newton had not observed gravity it might not exist.

Excellent point! Also if gravity didn't observe me, maybe I could lose these five pounds I've been trying to shed since last Pi Day. Stupid gravity. Stupid pie.