"This day may be celebrated in a variety of ways. Pause and give thought to the role that the number pi has played in your life. Imagine a world without pi. Attempt to memorise pi to as many decimal places as you can. If you're feeling creative, devise alternative values for pi. Go to a party (I will). Or just celebrate in the time-honoured fashion of ignoring Pi Approximation Day altogether."

Happy Pi Approximation Day. [more inside]
posted by swift on Jul 23, 2009 - 55 comments

New physics research: Time variation of a fundamental dimensionless constant
posted by shothotbot on Apr 1, 2009 - 26 comments

In 1897, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill mandating that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle (pi) was 3.2. Now, 112 years later, their neighbors in the Illinois Senate have passed a resolution redefining Pluto as a planet, at least when it passes through the Illinois night sky. Of course, Pluto may not even travel through the Illinois night sky for some time.
posted by grouse on Mar 6, 2009 - 59 comments

A new crop circle formation in Wiltshire depicts the first 10 digits of pi. [more inside]
posted by casarkos on Jun 20, 2008 - 96 comments

The 2007 International Privacy ranking. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jan 1, 2008 - 33 comments

Ever wondered if and where a specific set of numbers could be found in pi? Maybe you'd like to know where your birthday is? Or maybe just something funny. [prev. here, here] [more inside]
posted by TimeTravelSpeed on Dec 4, 2007 - 68 comments

Nowhere-neat tilings are actually pretty neat. We all know you can't "square the circle", but do you know the story of squaring the square? (And by the way, even if you can't construct π with a ruler and compass, you can come awfully close without too much work.)
posted by Wolfdog on Dec 4, 2007 - 10 comments

Pi to 1,000 places on piano is just one of the many catchy tunes on math sonifications. And check out more interesting things on on artist Tom Dukich's site.
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 28, 2007 - 30 comments

Celebrate π. Sing about π. Wear π. Learn the digits of π. Watch the wonder of π. Be vexed by the implications of π. Get slightly embarrassed for π. Give all your love to π. Happy Pi Day. Nerds rule!
posted by moonbird on Mar 14, 2007 - 57 comments

That Kate Bush song where she sings 150 digits of π and gets it wrong [possibly]? Turns out it contains secret references to, among other things, some stones in Cornwall that look sort of like a steam locomotive and a number of megalithic sites. No, seriously. He's got proof.
posted by gleuschk on Mar 26, 2006 - 26 comments

In case it has escaped your attention, tomorrow is 14 March which, in American notation, is written 3/14. If you have a certain type of mind you will immediately notice that these digits bear a close approximation to one of the most important numbers in mathematics - pi.
posted by infini on Mar 13, 2006 - 53 comments

If the universe is a hologram and the healthy human brain a valve of consciousness then where'd this mental infinity come from? Are we simply living the simulacrum? Or does Pi protect us all, forever, infinitely?
posted by 0bvious on Nov 22, 2005 - 39 comments

3.141592653589793238462643383279 [Quicktime; some mild language and wizard-related violence]
posted by neckro23 on Oct 16, 2005 - 61 comments

Very few people will ever need to learn the value of pi beyond a handful of digits, but some people are more obsessed than others. They call themselves Piphilologists, and all the pi-memorization writings you could ever possibly want have been compiled into one massive Piphilogical text file. And today, Piphilologists the world over must surely bow in tribute to Akira Haraguchi, who has just recited pi from memory to 83,431 places.
posted by Faint of Butt on Jul 4, 2005 - 22 comments

Whether its crocheted hyperbolic models or Lorenz manifolds, a lace pi shawl or knit Fibonacci socks, some math geeks find expression in the fiber arts.
posted by madamjujujive on May 30, 2005 - 26 comments

Convert the first 10,000 numbers of pi into music. You pick the notes. [via coudal]
posted by btwillig on Jan 4, 2005 - 26 comments

Happy Pi Day! At 1:59 PST, the San Francisco Exploratorium kicks off its Pi Day festivities. If you can't make it, here are more activities or you can just sing a song to ?.
posted by turbodog on Mar 14, 2003 - 12 comments

ð = "moderately pinocle mollify backup ammonium freshen chromium famine."
Or 3.141592653589793238462643383279...whichever is easier for you to remember.
Mnemesis tries to make it easier for you to memorize numbers by having you memorize words instead.
posted by Su on Apr 25, 2002 - 11 comments

Is your date of birth in pi? Of course it is, eventually. But are you one of the lucky 63% whose special day falls within the first 100,000,000 digits? How about your Social Security Number? That club is even more exclusive. A good tool for the pi-curious.
posted by OneBallJay on Mar 13, 2002 - 45 comments

You've helped crack mathematical games, you've searched for aliens, the cure for cancer, cure for AIDS and even tried to calculate pi. What's left to do in distributed computing? How about helping the fight against anthrax? Remember, if you don't download the screensaver, the terrorists have won.
posted by mathowie on Jan 23, 2002 - 7 comments