Why Pi Day is Even Better Than You Think

When people think of March, they often think of St. Patrick’s Day, but here at Academic Approach the most important March holiday occurs three days prior, on March 14^th. 

Pi Day was first celebrated in 1988, when physicist Larry Shaw woke up one day and decided that there should be a holiday on March 14^th to celebrate not only the first three digits of the mathematical sign pi (3.l4), but also, coincidentally, Albert Einstein’s birthday. Larry convinced his workplace, the San Francisco science museum the Exploratorium, to celebrate the holiday with a circular parade and fruit pies. 

The fact that Pi Day started as just one guy forcing his coworkers to celebrate a holiday that he completely made up is incredible, adorable, and exactly what I hoped the origins of this holiday would be. However, by far the best thing the internet turned up was this picture of Larry standing next to a bunch of pies in what may be a pie shirt (or else a shirt of pie-esque circles). You simply cannot look at this and tell me Pi Day isn’t the most wholesome holiday. 

Despite Pi Day’s hilarious beginning, the US House of Representatives passed legislation in 2009 to officially recognize Pi Day as a holiday. Pi Day celebrations often include the consummation of pies (a tragically underrated dessert), recitations of Pi’s full numerical sequence, and, according to Wikipedia, “discussions about the significance of the number π,” which is so precious and nerdy it hurts. 

Academic Approach has had many Pi(e) Day Potlucks over the years where we reignite the age-old question, “do savory dishes like pizza pie and chicken pot pie count as pie?” I won’t tell you where the majority of us stand on this issue, but we welcome your comments below to help settle the debate! 

So, why all this fuss over a little symbol? Why should non-mathematicians or scientists care about this sounds-fake-but-is-delightfully-real holiday? Well, firstly, I’m of the belief that we should all grasp as much silliness as is possible these days. And, well, Pi Day is right there. 

Secondly, remembering to appreciate “givens” in the world, like math, adds to your life. There’s plenty of evidence of the positive impact that gratitude journaling has on mental health, and I can personally testify (as one of the few people in this company that does not use pi in their daily life) that being surrounded by people who will legitimately wax poetic about statistics or the beauty of a mathematical formula is good for the soul. 

Admittedly, I do not often remember to be grateful for things like gravity or SOHCAHTOA or Newton’s Laws or the slope formula, but you know what, it is amazing that humans have figured out how to explain and quantify the world around us. 

There is beauty in the mathematical constant of pi. In a world where plenty of things feel uncertain or subjective, how lovely is it that the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is always equal to 3.14159… How great is it that this knowledge has been passed down over the generations, and that we can always rely on it to stay the same? 

So, this pi day, I urge you to take a step back, think of Larry in all his splendor, grab a forkful of your favorite pie, and remember to appreciate all the brilliant minds that have come before us and will come after us that seek to take chaos and turn it into order.