Pi appears everywhere, but there's one place one less expects to encounter it, such as number theory, probability or combinatorics, said Sebastian Cioaba, professor mathematical sciences at the University of Delaware. He delves deeper into pi in his recent book, “A Bridge to Advanced Mathematics: From Natural to Complex Numbers.”
Newswise — Goofy events and deals on pizza and pies only hint at the true magic of Pi Day, according to the University of Delaware's resident pi expert, Sebastian Cioaba.
Most people know the momentous math holiday, March 14, honors 3.14, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
But pi pops up everywhere, Cioaba said: Divide the circumference of a baseball, the Earth or even a coin by their diameter and you get 3.14.
“Students, and people in general, think that the mathematics landscape consists of separate islands that aren’t connected, and that's the opposite," the professor of mathematical sciences said. "Circles are ubiquitous in mathematics, so whenever there's a circle, pi will be involved."
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