Friday, January 28, 2011

Pi

Pi goes on and on forever and never stops!  Nope!  Never!  There’s not even a pattern to the numbers (it’s irrational). 
This is not the kind you eat (sorry), but the mathematical pi. 
Pi is important in the measurement of circles.  (It’s the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter AND the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius) and knowing that is very useful, for instance, in calculating what size tires to put on your car. 
π = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421
1706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196….
Random:
π March 14th is International Pi Day because it is written 3-14 (3.14 is the approximate value of pi.)
π There are pi clubs, art, music, T shirts…
π Pi trivia quiz for serious pi nerds  
π Pi is the secret code in Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain
π Pi is the most recognized mathematical constant in the world. Scholars often consider Pi the most important and intriguing number in all of mathematics.
π What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o'-lantern by its diameter?--pumpkin π
On March 14, 2004, Daniel Tammet set a new British and European record when he recited the number pi from memory to 22,514 decimal places in a time of 5 hours, 9 minutes, 24 seconds.  The event was organized by, and in aid of, the (British) National Society for Epilepsy, and took place at Oxford's Museum of the History of Science.
Daniel Tammet is a high-functioning autistic with savant syndrome.   He has astonishing mental skills which include the ability to visualize numbers in his head.  These abilities first emerged following epileptic seizures as a toddler. Daniel is one of only 25 documented savants in the world.  His bestselling 2006 memoir “Born On A Blue Day,” documents his life growing up and living with Asperger's syndrome and synesthesia, a condition which causes him to understand words and numbers as shapes, colors, textures and motions.
LINK:  Daniel Tammet's website Optimnem 

This is a fun weekly meme, under the direction of Jenny Matlock.  This week, our letter is "P."  Have some fun and come join HERE.  This is a great way to exercise your creative muscles AND you will be amazed at all the bloggy goodness to be found! 

NOTE:  I found Daniel Tammet and his book Born on a Blue Day to be fascinating.  There is much information about him on the internet, including his learning of the Icelandic language in a week and a number of interview clips (such as Diane Sawyer: link , David Letterman:  link). 

15 comments:

  1. Wow! wow!Wowzer! What a fun post of pi...(a piece of pi would work too :o) I really reading your facts of pi here.
    Thanks for sharing that and Daniel's book...I wrote that down to bring with me when we go to the bookstore. How amazing!!!

    Blessings & Aloha!
    I was able to get today off from work, unexpectedly...so yay! some catch up time for blog reading! Sorry that I hadnt been by to thank you for stopping by on my "O" post... I had my "P" post up earlier than normal, since I had accidently done it last week thinking we were on "P" then! haha

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  2. I find posts such as yours to be completely fascinating. Thanks for waking up my brain this morning.

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  3. this was infinitely fascinating .... brilliant post ... i just loved it!!!

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  4. Very interesting! I can't even remember phone numbers without looking at what's saved in my cell phone.

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  5. This has been a really interesting post. I am not a numbers person but my hubs works with numbers quite easily. This was amazing.

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  6. Pi makes my head hurt. What a wonderful post!

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  7. So fun and creative! I am amazed at people who understand numbers and Pi and all that mathy stuff.

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  8. Fascinating! Although it did make my head hurt a bit. Great P post!

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  9. Cute post. I'm a little bit of a math geek, so it was endearing to me! On "Pi Day" the kids in my daughter's middle school all bring in pies to celebrate! I will have to make a special one this year and blog about it.

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  10. It was always enough that I just knew 3.14. I cannot imagine spending that many hours reciting the numbers. I do think I saw that special of him learning the different language.

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  11. Pi Day - that's a good one! Now, I'm trying to remember the Hitchcock movie - you have me thinking too hard! {:-D

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  12. Isn't that Daniel Tammet guy interesting?

    =)

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  13. OK, I'm going to print this out and carry it around in my purse and then I can sneak a peak and impress all the math nerds in the family with my knowledge - ha!

    Thanks for a perfect stop on our little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "P".

    I found this fascinating.

    A+

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  14. Thank you for stopping by and letting me know that you added to your post :o) I loved watching those links. Our younger daughter, when she was about 5yrs old, would tell us how certain numbers reminded her of something else or had colors with them too... Like the number 4 reminded her of a turtle and when she would see another number (I can't remember which one right now) , she would tell us that it would be "the electric blue like you see in the back of a headache".

    Again, Thank you for sharing about Daniel Tammet. And for your kind comments on my post.

    Blessings & Aloha!

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Your comments make my day! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!