Irrational exuberance on Pi Day : 3/14

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10675138-irrational-exuberance-on-pi-day

By Alan Boyle 3/13/2012

The most famous irrational number, pi, is being factored into a whole smorgasbord of silliness on 3/14.

On one level, Wednesday's date is just an excuse for high geekery, ranging from eating mathematically meaningful pies to marching in a circular pi procession. On a deeper level ... well, who needs an excuse to celebrate one of nature's most mysterious numbers?

In differently curved universes, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter might be something other than 3.14159 and some change. But in our universe, the digits that describe that ratio have never come to an end or shown a repeating pattern, even though pi's value has been computed to a length of 10 trillion digits. The irrationality of pi has popped up as a theme in a goodly number of books and movies through the years, including "Contact" (the book) and "Pi" (the movie). Pi's continuing hold on our imagination is definitely something worth celebrating.

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Celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday, which also falls on March 14

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And if you don't follow the American style of stating dates, you might be more comfortable celebrating pi on July 22 (22/7), a date that evokes a fraction close to the irrational value of pi.

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