Ya can't make it up: House praises pi

POLITICO ^ | 2-12-09 | David Rogers

[smoothsailing]

Ya can't make it up: House praises pi

By: David Rogers

March 12, 2009 05:02 PM EST

With the world swirling about it, the House took a moment Thursday to honor pi, the Greek letter symbolizing that great constant in mathematics representing the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. An irrational number that has been calculated to more than 1 trillion digits, pi is a concept not totally foreign to today’s Washington. But in this case, the goal was to promote efforts by the National Science Foundation to improve math education in the United States, especially in the critical fourth to eighth grades.  Rounded off, pi equates to 3.14, hence the designation of March 14 as Pi Day under the resolution. Informal celebrations have been held around the country for at least 20 years, but Thursday’s 391-10 vote is the first time Congress has joined the party. “I’m kind of geeked up about it,” Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) told POLITICO. “It’s crazy, but I’m a whole lot more excited about that than congratulating the winner of last year’s Rose Bowl.  “I’m not making this up. I have been fascinated by pi since I was a kid. It blows my mind. It’s lovely. The fact that it’s sort of this infinite number. I just think it’s this magical thing. ... There’s a real beauty to mathematics.” Engineering and technology companies backed the effort, and like most things in the House, there’s a San Francisco angle. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has pressed hard for Congress to do more to promote science, and the San Francisco Exploratorium, in her home city, takes credit for the first Pi Day celebration in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces and then consuming fruit pies. “I am asking our nation’s students and teachers, for all of our sake, to go out and have fun around Pi Day,” said Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.) who managed the bill on the floor this week for the House Science Committee. March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein — adding to the convergence of big ideas. “It makes you realize how consequential you really are,” Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) said with a smile. But there’s always one: “We were never good at math in my family,” said Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). “I thought I was voting for p-i-e.”

© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC

[smoothsailing]

YES PECAN!!!

[tet68]

Let them eat Pi!

Marie Einstein said that.

[zipper]

...An irrational number that has been calculated to more than 1 trillion digits, pi is a concept not totally foreign to today’s Washington...

As compared to irrational numbskulls who have miscalculated the budget by a trillion dollars.

[FDNYRHEROES]

Looks like all those nerds with their slide rules were just putting on a dog and pony show all along...

[William Tell]

Thunder90 posted: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510...

I can vouch for the first 50 decimal places.

I spent a lot of time on guard duty when in the Army. We weren't allowed to read, so I spent some of my time memorizing the first 50 places of pi. Anything to pass some very long hours.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Ya can't make it up: House praises pi

Bend over, YoBama...

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Can you imagine the celebration Congress will cook up in 2015? They’ll probably spend $50 million or so on the party.

[skr]

Why not, they’ve been paying homage to 0 since January 20th.

[depressed in 06]

Give me a break, pi is equal to 1, the diameter is equal to 1 over that.

[Arthur McGowan]

They should make pi an even three.

That way, you could buy gold in hoops, and sell it in rods, and make a fortune. Or buy gold in rods and sell it in hoops.

[dr_lew]

Not equivalent. Pi is transcendent, as well as transcendental.

[decal]

“They should make pi an even three.”

Almost happened in Indiana.

http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/crd/Localgov/Second%20Level%20pages/indiana_pi_bill.htm

http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/math-faq/mathtext/node18.html

[smoothsailing]

Which would be better as far as that making a fortune part? :)

[Arthur McGowan]

That’s the tricky part, for sure.

[philman_36]

Rounded off, pi equates to 3.14, hence the designation of March 14 as Pi Day under the resolution.
By this rationale when marijuana gets taken off of the CSA April 20 (4:20) will become Bud Day.

[domeika]

...

[Proud_texan]

And cornbread are square.

Man, that's an old one.

[MrB]

I must have been underestimating the intellectuals in Obama’s crowds...

They were chanting “We Want PI!”, not “We want PIE!”

Man, am I embarrassed (to be in the same country with these fools).

[MortMan]

Well, the demidiots have been dividing everybody’s pi up and dishing out pieces willy-nilly, so perhaps their honoring pi is appropriate? ;-P

[Dr.Zoidberg]

And cornbread are square

Not over here, I make it in a cast iron skillet.