 |
Andrew went all out for Pi Day this year. It helps that it was on a Saturday rather than a weekday and it helps that some of the chaos of this semester is starting to ebb a little bit. For dinner he made two kinds of quiche—bacon and cheese and green onion and za'atar. Both were delicious.
And for dessert?
Banana cream, yucky pumpkin, Carolina Beach, and Key lime pie. They were all delicious, but the Key lime pie was devoured first (though, to be fair, that didn't happen until this afternoon so it took us at least a little while), followed closely by banana cream. We're still working on the other two pies!
.jpeg)
Isn't it funny that March 14 has been around for quite a long time (by my calculations) yet Pi Day is a relatively recent phenomenon? I wonder what happened in our culture to bring about such a quirky celebration. Wikipedia tells me it was first celebrated in 1988 in San Francisco—but, like why though? And when, precisely did it catch on? I remember celebrating Pi Day a little bit in the early 2000s (but not before then).
We humans are a quizzical bunch!
I read the Wikipedia article you linked, and then read about Larry Shaw on his Wiki page. You may have read this already, but I'll post what it says there about his staff retreat and Pi.
ReplyDeletePi Day
Larry Shaw, the "Prince of Pi", invented the holiday Pi Day in 1988 while at the Exploratorium.[11] During an off-site staff retreat in 1988, he started talking with his co-workers, like Ron Hipschman, about the mysteries of mathematical constants. Shaw came up with the idea to link pi (3.14159…), which begins with 3.14, with the date 3/14 or March 14. Co-workers built on the idea and they had a mini-celebration with just the staff, starting with eating of pies. The next year, the holiday was held for all at the museum and every year since, even when the museum was closed during its move. The celebration includes a parade at 1:59 p.m. with visitors holding a sign with a digit of pi, a pi shrine, eating of pies (fruit and pizza), singing happy birthday to Albert Einstein, and more. Larry Shaw would lead the parade in his red cap with the digits of pi. Pi Day was recognized as a national holiday in 2009 and is internationally celebrated. 2015 was proclaimed by Shaw to be a special year, as it was written 3/14/15, and he called it the "Pi Day of the Century". Shaw felt the best thing about Pi Day was making math more accessible, fun for those who may have had problems in school.[12][13][14][15] When asked if he was proud with events being held around the world, "Yes and no. It's not mine; it's everybody's. I'm just the guy holding the pole."[16]