Pi Day Celebration

MJG

Hi Guys,

I’m sure we’re all anxious to start our long anticipated celebration of this centuries Pi Day. Yes, it’s 3-14-15; the first 5 digits of Pi are 3.1415.

Joy to the world; even unlikely rare events do happen. Black swans are real. And this one has a definite periodicity.

For completeness, just in case you’re wondering about Pi’s real value, here is a Link to its first 100,000 digits. I’m sure we can’t live comfortably and confidently without this needed knowledge (wink):

http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~huberty/math5337/groupe/digits.html

Boring indeed.

Best Regards.

JohnChisum

I was horrible in math during my school years. Calculators were very expensive back then. Now I use the calculator on my iPhone constantly.

If we add a e, we can name it Pie day. Any kind of pie is good.

LLJB

The Pi moment was just a bit less than half a second before 9:26:54 this morning- 3/14/15 9:26:53.59. We had a poster on the wall when I was growing up of Pi to 1000 digits and I'm pretty sure my brothers made it to at least 100. I think I maxed out around 20 and I still try to remind them of the time they wasted and that knowing Pi to 100 digits does not make you many friends. Today I called and let them know for this one day they are cool

jlev

Not entirely related, but I have discovered that in New Zealand, Black Swans are the norm and there they have White Swan events.

LLJB

They also have snow in the middle of the summer and drive on the wrong side of the road! I think everything is upside down there

JohnChisum

They are playing football in Australia. Their football is actually fun to watch and with no pads, helmets or time outs, it is fast paced and bloody sometimes.

MJG

Hi John,

The New Zealanders love their children, their sheep, and their sheep herding dogs - not necessarily in that order. They're more British than the Brits.

Have a great time wherever your roads take you.

Best Wishes.

JohnChisum

Thanks @MJG. New Zealand is definitely a place I want to visit someday. Beautiful country down there.

On the subject of math, we were required to purchase a slide rule in high school. I never got the hang of it. I still have it around somewhere.

STB65

As someone who once used a slide rule with moderate efficiency (might have had one or two pocket protectors), all I have to say is "Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket."

MJG

Hi STB65,

You ask the same difficult question that all generations have asked. It's truly a question without a precise answer, but history might provide a few clues.

I was motivated to post on Pi Day while thinking back to where we were on the last Pi Day in 1915. Being a retired engineer, I fact checked some US census data on population, life expectancy, and real (inflation adjusted) GDP per capita for the past century. I like round numbers and ratios.

The U.S. population has increased by a factor of 3.5. Our life expectancy has increased by 25 and 27 years for men and women respectively, and our Real GDP per capita has increased by a factor of 7. These are impressive stats.

In 1915 we were on the eve of WWI, political assertions notwithstanding. Today's warring threats are less imposing but killing efficiency has increased by orders of magnitude. I worry, but not too much. In a reflective mode, I'm optimistic.

I wonder how a 2115 Pi Day celebrant will judge his century of progress/demise? No easy answers from this quarter.

Best Wishes.

Ted

@MFO Members Just think, the next pi day we will all be long gone ! March 14. 2115
Regards,
Ted

Sven

Someone reminded me the "Pi" day and the flash back to the slide rule days. My introduction to science and engineering classes required to show all work and calculation was done using slide rule, even though calculators were available. Then came the spreadsheet and life became simpler.

msf

I had a class in HS where we were actually tested on using a slide rule. I negotiated with the teacher the right to use log tables instead of a slide rule. Same principle, but one was analog and required mechanical skills (not my strong suit); the other was digital.

Going digital - I was just a little ahead of my time

Tampabay

Only pie I like is Cherry...some times Apple, and Basic math I was a genius ,but No Pi have I ever used in my life... Graduated from a top 10 business school in the U.S....go figure
but its important right?

Old_Joe

PiRSquare is a fallacy- everyone knows that Pi are round.

msf

Old_Joe said:

PiRSquare is a fallacy- everyone knows that Pi are round.

In other words, one cannot square the circle

LLJB

I'm pretty sure we only have to wait a bit less than 3 years for 'e' day. Something to look forward to I guess!!

LLJB

Actually if we could ever get Pi and e together I suspect Tampabay would be quite happy.

catch22

'e' is cool, too, but I am still going for Total Return (TR). When I have a need for 'Pi' or 'e', I will find the proper math web site. For small circles to draw, I still use a glass or a bowl or a whatever the size. Sometimes I use a string with a pencil tied to one end, too.

My personal formula for TR is: money in + proper thinking + compounding time = more money at the end.

Unrelated, but of practical value, not unlike someone needing to use 'Pi' or 'e'; but I learned much about 'natural sciences' from growing up in the country side, full of nature and natural things. I especially learned how fast water freezes the soaked legs of pants after having fallen into the stream behind the house and walking the 1/4 mile to home when the temperature is about zero degrees during the winter months.......