Using Number Theory, Twitter, and Magic to Celebrate Pi Day 2010

March 17, 2010

In celebration of Pi Day, mathematician James Grime and magician Brian Bushwood teamed up to perform what they believed would be the world's largest live magic trick. In a recent article for Plus Magazine, Grimes explained the mathematics underlying the trick, which involved guessing numbers.

Over a thousand volunteers participated in the trick by using Twitter, a popular instant messaging system.

"All our viewers had to do was to follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #pidaymagic, where they would be able to see the trick unfold from wherever they were in the world," Grime wrote.

Bushwood is currently the host of the Internet series Scam School while Grime is currently working for the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University. The trick was part of the Cambridge Science Festival.

Read Grime's full article here