Another Pi Day (3.14) is upon us, and math geeks worldwide celebrate this most famous of irrational numbers.
For those who would love to follow the thread, here is a link to one million digits of pi.
Yet, I feel some other just as good irrational numbers are being left out. There are plenty of real numbers that cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers.
How about the Golden Ratio, that I use in woodworking a lot? The ratio of sum of two quantities to the larger equaling the ratio of the two approximates 1.6180339887498948482045…
Celebrated in art, architecture, and carpentry…but not given its own day.
Then there is the natural logarithm – or e – approximately equal to 2.718281828…which is derived from the way cool formula
But no day for e.
My favorite imaginary number is i – the square root of negative one. You would think that an imaginary number could get its own day, but noooooo….
Take e, i, and π and put them together and you get what is one of the most profound and yet elegant formula out there – Euler’s Identity:
Euler’s Identity suggests that there is an elegant order to a messy universe…which is reassuring to someone who works in the chaotic world of online education.
So welcome the Fourteenth of March, when math geeks proclaim the Joy of Pi, which by the way was an excellent book by David Blatner.
I will keep lobbying for more irrational days!
Pi Day was always my favorite and most exhausting day of the year! I would come home sick of pie after 4-5 periods of constant activity and sugar.
Still like to wear my Pi Day earring that I purchased at MIT. Hope that you all had something yummy to eat at the CTE yesterday.