All week the media has promoted today's date and π. Other than a reverence for the mathematical symbol or the movie, Life of Pi, what makes this day worth noting? First, the date occurs approximately every 100 years. Five digits 3.1415 (and more digits once we include time with seconds later in day).
According to the Washington Post, meteorologists use π in weather system models, such as the European global predictor. We're also reminded pi is used to calculate the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. (Jason Samenow, 3/13/15). Moreover, mathematicians and scientists are extolling how pi as a basic building block. Why does it matter to the world at large?
You don't have to be a nerd to understand that via cyberspace, science has lifted its secretive cloaking device to reveal to the world mathematical operations which have a direct effect on our lives. Living scientists have become superstars Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku (also in part due to their appearances on television). Mathematicians have less notoriety. Scientists need to have an advanced understanding of advanced math to theorize and then apply their hypotheses.Earlier figures such as Kepler and Doppler may also be familiar. However, can the average reader name a famous mathematician in recent memory?
If you saw, The Imitation Game, you'd know about Alan Turing who broke the Enigma code during World War II. How about Benoit Mandelbrot? I learned about him as I did my research for this blog. If I wrote that Arthur C. Clarke said Mandelbrot (1924-2010) had been responsible for finding "one of the most beautiful and astonishing discoveries {a set of numbers that bear Mandelbrot's name} in the entire history of mathematics," would I get your attention? Or that he uncovered fractal geometry? Don't blame the lyricist for children learning the word "fractals" in "Let It Go," from Frozen. Instead, thank Mandelbrot for discovering formulas based on fractals that created the cellphone and computer chips. (Shea Gunther, MNN)
Yes, I loved math but I have to admit I loathed geometry (I recently learned that I have a learning disability which made learning that branch of math more than challenging. If I'd only known. . .), and therefore was advised not to study physics. Over the years I have read as much as I could about physicists, scientists, but few mathematicians. Without math there would be no science. Maybe a celebration of π, should be heralded, if only to remember those mathematical geniuses I've mentioned today.
Wendy Shreve is the author of Shadowwater and Dark Sea (Shadowwater II). Go to www.shadowwater.net for more information.
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