Pi Day!
March 14th or as we Americans write, 3.14.
Birthday of Albert Einstein and what better day to bring Math to the public.
But of course, we made it Pie Day and we see a slew of deals such as a pizza for $3.14 or free dessert pies with entree orders and the like from various restaurants to mark the day.
Schools, Colleges and Libraries remain faithful to Pi Day and organize special events to celebrate the day. This year though, these events all stand cancelled, thanks to Covid19 scare.
Let us turn the clock to 2018, when Austin Public Library put up a fantastic set of events in the, then newly opened, central library location.
We were greeted by a specially curated rack of books for the occasion called the Pi Day Picks. A very topical and interesting collection that had books ranging from Math and Science to Cooking to Music.
I borrowed this book. A mathematician decides to search for the earliest inscription of zero and to prove conclusively that zero was a concept from Asia. Quite an interesting read. If I remember right, the earliest inscription that he found out was one from the Far East. Is there anything older in India?
The main event was a lecture on the history of Pi by a lecturer from University of Austin. It was a delightful session, unfortunately I don't seem to have a picture.
It was followed by a class on pie making. We got to sample the pies.
The library had designated 3:14:12PM as the time to celebrate Pi Day. There was even a countdown clock.
And when it was time, there entered a Mariachi band who entertained us all with some lovely music. Look at the Pi themed background.
The final event of the day was a Pieku contest where we had to write Pi themed Haikus on the spot. I did submit a few of them. A couple of them were
Cakes are total fake
Pokey corners their sides make
True Pies are not squared?
Song, Dance and Some math
Plates of pies and coffee
Pie day in Austin
Two sides of a slice
That three times over plus some
The crust of a pie
The last one was selected as one of the winning entries and I won a book, on Pi, of course.
