Pi, as Hipschman noted, is strange because it's both an irrational number (its decimal expansion never ends or repeats) and yet the number is also transcendental (no finite sequence of algebraic functions could ever produce it). The idea first popped to mind more than two decades ago when Shaw was engaged in a long conversation with a colleague about the "mysteries of Pi," the well-known ratio that is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. Shaw, 69 and now retired, said he never imagined his idea would turn into such a global extravaganza. In San Francisco, Hipschman said a 2-year-old Peninsula girl affectionately known as Baby Pi (her Google-employed parents named her Pi after the mathematical constant), would likely make an appearance.
Since Pi Day falls on a Saturday this year, the site is also broadcasting a Pre-Pi Day Drop at 1:59 (Eastern and Pacific times) Friday, so that teachers can watch and host pi-themed parties.Īt such events people generally recite pi's numerals by memory, fling pizza dough into the air as a way to begin discussions on circumference and eat lots of pie. The pi-friendly site also sells commemorative mugs, posters and T-shirts that read "I (heart) pi," and the "official pi day button." Just as Shaw leads the local celebration, countless others will log onto the Web site to watch a giant pi symbol drop down like the crystal ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve. While the annual Pi Day celebration (3/14, which also happens to be Einstein's birthday) may not share the eloquent symmetry of, say, Square Root Day (which occurred on 3/03/09 and will not return until ), what began as the fun idea of an Exploratorium physicist named Larry Shaw 21 years ago, has now blossomed into an international event.
"It's a geek holiday," said co-organizer and Exploratorium physicist Ron Hipschman, who has hosted the museum's celebration since its inception in 1988.
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