22/7: It's Pi Day Outside the U.S.

July 22, 2010 

March 14 (3/14) may be Pi Day in the U.S., but in Australia and elsewhere 3.14159265... is celebrated on the 22nd day of July, aka 22/7.

Australia’s National Numeracy Ambassador and self-confessed number cruncher Simon Pampena will be in charge of special events honoring the number at the Royal Institute of Australia, in Adelaide. 

“There is a sort of mania around mapping Pi," said Pampena, "but representation to eleven decimal places is good enough to estimate the circumference of any circle that fits inside the earth and thirty decimal places will suffice for the circumference of any circle within the universe." 

Pampena described pi as "a great example of mathematicians sharing some common ground with non-mathematicians. The fact it is a simple idea with bizarre nature makes Pi a pop culture cross-over star!” 

Noteworthy examples of pi in pop culture include Darren Aronofsky’s number theorist in his film Pi; Carl Sagan’s novel Contact, which suggests that a message lies within the digits of Pi; and Kate Bush’s song "Pi," which is largely composed of the Pi digits.

Source: NewsMaker (July 21, 2010)

Deconstructed Pi pie by Rori Abernethy