Welcome to the world of mathematics. Believe it or not, you have been living in a world synchronized by numbers for your entire life. Everything has a shape, and in order to get to that shape, numbers are needed. You might say that anything round is "pied" because in order to get the area of it, you need that special ratio. If pi were just 3, then we wouldn't have circles at all! Everything round would take on a hexagonal formation because 3 is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a six-sided figure. Have you ever wondered why some freaks take the time to actually memorize pi? In the words of author and cognitive scientist Douglas R. Hofstadter, who committed to 380 digits in his high school years, "My memorization of pi was not an isolated stunt, but part of an overall campaign to become truly fluent with numbers. Untoubtedly, this helped lead me toward a deeper appreciation of numbers of all sizes." (Metamagical Themas, 134)
In other words, some people memorize pi not to show off, but to gain a profound understanding of randomness and large numerals in general. Saying that pi is 3.14 without addressing the fact that it goes on infinitely afterward neglects the true essence of the number. To me, pi represents the beauty of mathematics, the beauty of the world we live in. This unatainable, irrational, transcendental number is used to describe the perfect symmetry of circles and spheres. Memorizing pi is a step forward in the search for a pattern in pi, for regularity in chaos in general. But if I've totally lost you, let's just say it's great for shock value ;-)
How many people out there have used pi in a math formula? At least everyone who's taken Algebra I. Without further explanation, here are some random factoids about everyone's favorite number:
Why yes! Givenchy, the French perfume manufactures, are using Pi as a symbol of man's quest for the unknown. The concept is excellent if "man" is being used to represent humans in general. As a woman, I strongly resent Givenchy's further claim that pi represents the "eternally masculine." I am appalled at their assumption that men are the only ones searching for the unknown, especially since women have contributed so much to mathematics as well. It is my belief that this perfume should be unisex, or at least have a feminine equivilent. Of course, the following excerpt from their website shows exactly how much thought has been put into their product:"This letter of the Greek alphabet is used in mathematics to express the constant ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, i.e., 3.1416."
"Math's never a piece of cake, but sometimes it's just as easy as pi."
