The Friendly Book Cave 2020 discussion
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What is your background in science?
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Mystic Orange, Moderator. Student Governor. British Heart Foundation Volunteer
(last edited Nov 09, 2017 07:20AM)
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As academics across the world prepare for the festival, here’s everything you need to know about Pi Day.
The maths event celebrates π, the term used to describe the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, commonly shortened to 3.14159.
It has been traced back to Larry Shaw, a physicist who is believed to have held the first ever Pi Day celebration in 1988.
There’s no doubt that some will be disappointed that the day has nothing to do with food.
Despite this, revellers have been known to cook up a pie or two to mark the celebration.
These are often decorated with the mathematical symbol π.
Every year, Pi Day is observed on March 14.
The event falls on this specific date because the first three significant digits of π are 3, 1 and 4.
In 2009, the US House of Representatives officially recognised the date as a national celebration.
Tech giant Google also created a special Doodle to mark the holiday in 2010.
As well as honouring pi, the celebration works to inspire further academic research and interest in maths and science.
As the exact digits of the irrational number remain unknown, the mystery of π has continued to enthral academics.
The special constant shows up across many disciplines, including chemistry, physics and maths.
Although the official premise of the day is to honour π, many believe it’s more of a celebration of academia.
For this reason, schools, universities and museums across the globe encourage festivities.
I did Science at school. I wasn't bad at it. I was actually quite good. I did show off my results even though I got C's. I hated Physics though.
This thread was suggested to me listen to, Probably Science. Presented by two comedians with scientific educations, they usually have a guest or two, other comedians, and discuss to a greater or lesser degree recent science-based news stories. They always start by asking their guests "What, if anything, is your background in science?" and it struck me that this would be an excellent question for this group. And there are no wrong answers. If you a multiple PhD or someone who dropped out of high school but then started a lay interest in science when you developed a crush of Neil deGrasse Tyson, that's cool.