Ryerson’s math and science departments celebrated National Pi Day on Monday with loads of (real) pie and ice cream.
This is the event’s fourth year anniversary, but today’s date was of special importance because, when rounded, Pi’s decimal points equal 3.1416, the same digits as Mar. 14, 2016.
Guest speaker Benjamin Reiniger, a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics at Ryerson, said last year’s date was a bigger deal because Pi’s actual digits are 3.1415. “Some people have called (this year’s day) ‘Engineer’s Pi Day’ because rounding is so much better for engineers!” he said.
Celebrators followed the smell of warm apple pie to POD 250, where hot chocolate and pie, courtesy of Metro, and prizes, courtesy of the Ryerson Book Store, could be enjoyed before sitting back and listening to presenters make many, many Pi puns.
Reiniger lectured on the history of Pi, reminding audience members that “Pi is everywhere.”
Pi, defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diametre, helps us do many things, from determining the circumference of a pizza, to keeping satellites in orbit, and has fascinated people for nearly 4,000 years.
Currently, the record for most decimal points of Pi memorized is 70,000, held by Rajveer Meena from Vellore, India, achieved on Mar. 21, 2015.
“Anyone who knows anything about math knows something about Pi,” Reiniger said.
Emily is a reporter for the second winter masthead of the Ryersonian.