The Beginning of Pi

Your basic first 1000 digits

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What is pi?

In our society, pi is dealt with a bit in math class, but not much more than that. For most people, this brings up the immediate question, "What is pi?" Pi is a very cool number that describes a circle. This means for one thing that if you take the diameter of a circle (the segment that goes from one side to the other cutting across the center) and multiply it by pi, you get the circumference of the circle (the distance around the outside). There are other formulas you can use pi with too. So, pi is a weird number that somehow or other always can help you find distances pertaining to a circle.

The next question that may arise is, "Why is it called pi instead of a number that I can count like 3.1415?" Actually, 3.1415 is the beginning of pi; however, it goes on farther than that, in fact it goes on forever. Pi has no end! There are computers as we speak that are spitting out numbers of pi that they calculate using formulas called algorithms. Another neat thing about pi is that no pattern ever appears twice in the number. "How do you know that if the number goes on forever? It might repeat somewhere." Actually, we are sure it doesn't repeat anywhere as mathematicians have worked out formulas that mathematically prove it, and in math, once you have proof of something, there's no weasily way to prove otherwise, it is pretty much fact.

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What is so cool about a pi? I mean it's just a number.

Yes, it is just a number, but it is a number unlike any other. Pi somehow or other describes a circle, which if you think about it is a really weird shape. It has one side, no angles, and it's made with one continuous line. A circle a funky shape is this never-ending, never-repeating number can seemingly miraculously describe. Pi is a mystery within itself. There are people who believe that pi contains the answer to the universe, or that information is held in the digits. There are people working on discovering the answer to the mystery of pi. Besides that, there are a substantial group of people who work on memorizing the digits of pi. People have memorized thousands of digits. Clubs exist, and it's like a contest to see who can memorize the most digits. Also remember, the farther into pi you go, the more accurate your answers will be when you use it in equations. Impress your friends, parents, teachers, professors with your memory capabilities. Pi seems a good way to do this because I've found that the numbers do seem to be easy to memorize, and roll right out, perfect for reciting!

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I became interested in pi when I was told to do a report on any subject that interested me in eight grade. I had heard about the belief that pi is the "answer to the universe," and thought that this would be a good time to find out what that was all about. In my research I found several books on pi, and a killer homepage (see link above: uselessness). I posted a message asking for help on my report on a bulletin board on the uselessness page, and got an incredibly good response. I had pages of comments from professors, mathematicians, and pi loving folk the world over. The report came out a success.

Soon after the success of my report, I began doing some memorizing and further research on pi's uses in math, and had discussions with my math teacher. I recently decided that it was time to have my own pi homepage to share with the world what I've learned, created, take interest in, and wish to share. So, peruse the pages, and hopefully this will help make us all learn to appreciate pi. Enjoy!