A Pie for a Pi

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."