|
|
Mathematics student David Przygoda, '08, (right), and
classmates enjoy Pi Day with -- what else? "I
wish there were as many flavors to pie as there are decimal
places," philosophized Przygoda. "But then I would
have to have an appetite as big as pi, itself."
|
A Pie for a Pi
Math/Computer Science Celebrates a
Favorite Number
March
15, 2005
Photos by Dave Reimann
At precisely 1:59 p.m. yesterday, Albion College's mathematics and
computer science department began the serious work of commemorating one
of their discipline's most important numbers. Pi Day was duly
noted by faculty, staff and students with the consumption of apple, blueberry,
coconut cream, and pumpkin pie in the Math/CS house.
Rob Murdoch, '05, and David Przygoda, '08, help empty the table.
With more than a trillion decimal places, "Pi can lead to
interesting discussions, like where your phone number first shows up,"
says department chair Dave
Reimann. (In case you've forgotten where your phone number is,
download a pi chart
 |
Pi, which represents the ratio of a circle's circumference
to its radius, has been calculated by modern mathematicians to more than a
trillion decimal places, and the calculation is often used to test computer systems.
Nonetheless, explains assistant professor of mathematics Mark Bollman,
"If you're computing the circumference of the universe, the biggest
possible circle -- to the accuracy of the radius of an electron, the smallest known
distance -- you only need pi to 40 digits. Anyone who knows more
than that is showing off."
|
