I’ll Take Pie, Over Pi Any Day

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will reveal that math was never my stellar undertaking.

Whether it was geometry, trigonometry or any other “metry” that applied, I usually escaped class with an average more befitting a score recorded by Tiger Woods, as opposed to something I would want permanently etched on my educational transcript.

And while I was a passable athlete, I realized the futility, not to mention absurdity, of attempting to become a “mathlete.” I could add and subtract change reasonably well, but when it came to proving theorems or quadratic equations, let’s just say I had a better chance of dunking over LeBron James.

I know exactly one math trick. If you want to multiply a whole number by 4 - multiply it first by 2 and then simply double the answer. Impressed?

With that suspect pedigree it should come as a surprise to exactly no one that I was totally unaware that yesterday March 14, was National Pi Day and there are actually celebrations across the country to celebrate.

And no, it’s not a soiree for the Academy Award winner Life of Pi.

Pi, for those like me needing a refresher course, is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which rounded off comes to 3.14159, but more on that a bit later.

Needless to say, the celebrants – billing themselves as “radius and circumference lovers” - were probably as a whole, light years brighter than yours truly, but in truth, I got some interesting takeaways when reading up on this rather under-the-radar occasion.

For example the Greek letter (π) or Pi, is the first letter of the word “perimetros” which is Greek for perimeter and apparently mathematicians first began using the letter back in the 1700s.

Funny, Mr. Briller never explained all that in my 10^th grade geometry class.

Some geek even came up with a Pi day playlist that includes naturally, “American Pie” by Don McLean.

To determine the value of Pi, in 2011 a mathematician from Japan using a home-made computer, calculated the number to 10 trillion digits. I certainly hope his office was paperless.

Finally, someone came up with the idea of Pi snacks – something I could actually relate to.

Although admittedly, their noshing suggestions were fairly pedestrian – apple pie, pizza pie, and even Pi (ne) nuts – get it? Now when I find someone who’s marking National Pi day with a sweet potato or pecan pie, then despite my past under-achievements in exact sciences, I just might get in the holiday spirit.