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Circles, Maths and Pi Day

Circles, Maths and Pi Day
Pi, or the Greek letter π, is the symbol that represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by mathematics suporters around the world on March (3rd month), 14th. Pi = 3.141592653589793238 ...
Pi is an irrational number and a transcendental number. An irrational number is a real number that cannot be written as a fraction. Its decimal expansion neither terminate nor repeate following a pattern; it continues infinitely. A transcedental number is an irrational number that it is not an algebraic number meaning that it is not the root of any integer polynomial.
The symbol for pi was first used in 1706 by William Jones (below left picture), but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (below right picture) in 1737. Learn more about Pi.
Euclid's most celebrated book of the Elements.

Six Books of Euclid
"A rare and beautiful geometry primer from the 19th century.
Red, yellow, blue - and of course black - are the colours that Oliver Byrne employs for the figures and diagrams in his most unusual 1847 edition of Euclid, published by William Pickering and printed by Chiswick Press, and which prompt the surprised reader to think of Mondrian. The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others: "The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners."
Oliver Byrne (c. 1810-c. 1880) was an Irish author and civil engineer. Little is known about his life, though he wrote a considerable number of books. As Surveyor of Her Majesty's Settlements in the Falkland Islands, Byrne had already published mathematical and engineering works, but never anything like his edition on Euclid. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.
Each proposition is set in Caslon italic, with a four-line initial, while the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow and blue."
Reference: Amazon.com, Editorial review, product description.
Interesting Pi Facts
1. Pi to 2000 Digits
Pi is the most recognized mathematical constant in the world.
3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862
08998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481
11745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823
37867831652712019091456485669234603486104543266482133936072602491412737245870
06606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384
14695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179310511854807446237996
27495673518857527248912279381830119491298336733624406566430860213949463952247
37190702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263
56082778577134275778960917363717872146844090122495343014654958537105079227968
92589235420199561121290219608640344181598136297747713099605187072113499999983
72978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522308253344685035261931
18817101000313783875288658753320838142061717766914730359825349042875546873115
95628638823537875937519577818577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989
38095257201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413
89124972177528347913151557485724245415069595082953311686172785588907509838175
46374649393192550604009277016711390098488240128583616035637076601047101819429
55596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677
02898915210475216205696602405803815019351125338243003558764024749647326391419
92726042699227967823547816360093417216412199245863150302861829745557067498385
05494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881
83479775356636980742654252786255181841757467289097777279380008164706001614524
91921732172147723501414419735685481613611573525521334757418494684385233239073
94143334547762416862518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653
46680498862723279178608578438382796797668145410095388378636095068006422512520
51173929848960841284886269456042419652850222106611863067442786220391949450471
2371378696095636437191728746776465757396241389086583264599581339047802759010
ReferenceTURNBULL WWW SERVER, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
University of St Andrews

2. Squaring the Circle
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) briefly worked on "squaring the circle."
Klaus Schröer in his, Das Geheimnes der Proportionsstudie, published by Waxmann Publisher, Germany in 1998, was the first to recognize that Leonardo da Vinci, in his Vitruvian Man, is attempting to square the circle, to demonstrate how a square and circle of equal area can be created.
'The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 It is accompanied by notes based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.'
Reference: Image and citation from WORLD -MYSTERIES.com, Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
3. Albert Einstein
was born on Pi Day
The well renowned mathematician Albert Eistein was born on Pi Day, 14 March 1879. A famous quote from Einstein "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
5. Baffling Crop Circles
I have always been fascinated by these crop shapes. The geometric pattern in this image shows a coded image which represents the first ten digits of pi - 3.141592654. This complex crop circle appeared in a field near Barbury Castle, an iron-age hill fort in Wiltshire, England.
The astrophysicist Michael Reed, said:
"The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point.
"The code is based on 10 angular segments with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.
"Starting at the centre and counting the number of one-tenth segments in each section contained by the change in radius clearly shows the values of the first 10 digits in the value of pi."
Reference: "Baffling Crop Circles Equal Pi." Metro.co.uk. June 18, 2008. Accessed: June 15, 2009.

How Does It Work?
This puzzle looks complicated but it is so easy to read once you learn how to read it. The coded image depicts 3.141592654, the first ten digits of Pi.
Step 1. The exterior circle was divided into ten equal parts (a bit like a dartboard). It is quite easy to find the ten staggered edges located at strategic points around the crop circle. There are ten sectors of the circle because there are 10 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. This sets the basic framework.
Step 2. Each number in Pi is represented in the diagram by a corresponding number of coloured blocks. It begins in the centre with the first number three, 3, which is represented by three red blocks moving in a clockwise direction. These are the blocks between the first edge and the second edge.
Step 3. Moving around the circle, the decimal point is represented by a small circle.
Step 4. Moving around the circle to the next edge, there is only one sector covered, the green one, which means that the next number is one, 1.
Step 5. The next edge is 4 steps away, the purple sectors.
Step 6. By following this pattern, Dr Mike Reed found the next seven digits of the number Pi: one orange sector, 1, five blue sectors, 5, nine yellow sectors, 9, two purple sectors, 2, six red sectors, 6, five green sectors, 5, four dark blue sectors, 4. The three circles at the end represent three dots meaning that the number goes forever, to infinity.
How easy was that!?
Reference: Image and info from Mail online
6. Pi the Movie
There are different and diverse opinions about this movie, however one thing is for sure: p is a very intriguing number.
'Patterns exist everywhere: in nature, in science, in religion, in business. Max Cohen (played hauntingly by Sean Gullette) is a mathematician searching for these patterns in everything. Yet, he's not the only one, and everyone from Wall Street investors, looking to break the market, to Hasidic Jews, searching for the 216-digit number that reveals the true name of God, are trying to get their hands on Max. This dark, low-budget film was shot in black and white by director Darren Aronofsky. With eerie music, voice-overs, and overt symbolism enhancing the somber mood, Aronofsky has created a disturbing look at the world. Max is deeply paranoid, holed up in his apartment with his computer Euclid, obsessively studying chaos theory. Blinding headaches and hallucinogenic visions only feed his paranoia as he attempts to remain aloof from the world, venturing out only to meet his mentor, Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), who for some mysterious reason feels Max should take a break from his research. This movie is complex--occasionally too complex--but the psychological drama and the loose sci-fi elements make this a worthwhile, albeit consuming, watch. Pi won the Director's Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.' --Jenny Brown Amazon.com Editorial review
7. Pi Day Sudoku
Rules 2008: Each row, column, and jigsaw region must contain exactly the first twelve digits of pi, including repeats: 3.14159265358. Notice that each region will contain two 1's, two 3's, three 5's, and no 7's. This puzzle is the most fun you'll ever have memorizing the first twelve digits of p.
Brainfreeze Puzzles have come up with Pi Day Sudoku. Their Pi Day Sudoku puzzles are free to use and distribute. If you want to download the printable PDF version just click on the sudoku of your choice and the link will take you to the puzzle.
Pi Day Sudoku 2008
Rules 2009: Fill in the grid so that each row, column, and jigsaw region contains 1-9 exactly once and p three times.
Pi Day Sudoku 2009
Rules 2010: Fill in the grid so that each row, column, and block contains 1-9 exactly once.
Pi Day Sudoku 2011
Rules 2011: Fill in the grid so that each row, column, and block contains 1-9 exactly once.
Pi Day Sudoku 2011
9. Find Your Birthday in Pi
If you click here you can find where in Pi your birthday first occurs. This is fun. Enjoy!
10. Pi Songs on YouTube
I Love Pi Day - How do you cellebrate Pi Day?
We celebrated pi day in my third and forth grade class. We spent about a month learning about diameter, radius, circumference and mathematicians. Pi day was a celebration. I brought in different sizes of pies. Little tarts too. If they wanted to eat something,they had to find the circumference first.
That's for sharing your interesting Pi facts.
Pi day is my sister's birthday so we usually have cake and ice cream.
Is hard to understand the tru significance of pi, as it has such a key role in so many equations totally unrelated of the circunsference of the circle
Very informative and fun
Happy National Pi Day! Thanks for making math fun and interesting!
Love it! Thanks (I'm forwarding to my math friends...)
Excellent lens!
Nice work! Please visit my lens too. :)
The need for study and education is important and like today is needed within our society in order to become wiser, education, and well rounded. I appreciated reading your article today.
Pi is baffling amongst the fractions we use and the most important one.
I've always loved math, nice lens!
Inherently a very nice guy,
he must be, this enigmatic Pi;
Never get to know him fully,
even if you earnestly try.
Simple enough for a child to use,
Yet could pick Einsteinâs brain.
Moves about with ease, does he,
Sporting his endless digit-train.
A great lens - wish you were teaching math to my child!
Such a cool Pi lens, for any day :)
Would you believe my wife's friends actually named their son "Pi"!
Great lens. I've lensrolled it to my "Pie" lens :-)
Well. I just discovered this lens, and found out about Pi day 20 days too late... so, now. it's a while year to remember about it. Unique lens, and cool Zazzle stuff, too!
i may have been a few days late but i enjoyed this lens
Cool lens. Math is good. :) Like to know more about that crop circle. Have to check into that.
I used this in class today, thanks for the great information! Thumbs up and fav'd.
Amazing- I'm in love with math- how did that happen?? Like Einstein said, it's not gravitation -:). You're lenses are like a bridge between the linear realm of science and the nonlinear of love.
I forgot Pi Day was almost upon us! Those crop circles are pretty labor intensive. If man-made, that's still one very intelligent person.
I love maths; I used to give private math lessons to my relatives. Great lens indeed!
Salvatore
That crop circle is amazing, whether done by aliens or mathematicians with too much free time. A perfect example of math as art. Pi shows up in so many places. You should do a lens on the golden rectangle/ratio. Nice work!
Wonderful descriptive lens on this great subject. I love maths and the philosophy behind it and the rationality of its solutions. Featured on Brain Matters
Well I absolutely love all your math lenses and this one is so interesting! I had never heard of Pi Day, but now I'm going to annoy my kids and talk about it in March (ha)...The crop circle I found very interesting. I am going to reference your lenses if my children need guidance in math - they're so well done, and you make math fun!
Barb
i didn't even know there is a Ï = 3.14 day . ...it seems there is a special day for everything......i never liked maths....i won't say hated it but i wasn't really fond of it.... now that i have grown older and wiser i ve realized that it is not the student's fault when he says " i hate maths " but it is the teachers fault....
And i mean that teachers use the same tutoring pattern for all their students...but every student has and needs a different approach ...and not punishing them and humiliating them in front of the class just because they do not get it. it happened to me a few times so i ended up disliking french..ancient greek and maths.....
on the other hand teachers do not have the time to approach every single student with a different way...when there are too many kids in the same class and they have to put in their heads tons of information in short school year........Really enjoyable lens
Actually, I've only just recently learned about Pi Day! This lens has been blessed by the maths angel and added to my best maths resources lens.
What a cool lens!!! I'm a maths geek and enjoy this kind of thing
My boys and I have celebrated Pi Day in the past by buying a pie, calculating the circumference and area of it, then eating it!
I don't. Used to dread mathematics during school. Read a nice article about Pi and Pi socities around in the world in the recent edition of the Geo magazine.
Love this lens .. sorana :) Here is fulfilled a lot of interesting of Pi. 5 Pi Day loving stars for you ;) Have a wonderful times.
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