HAPPY PI DAY OF THE CENTURY!

As numismatists we should all be familiar with Pi basics associated with the roundness of coins such as [Circumference] = PI * [Diameter] which is true for most all round coins unless they have been edge whacked a good one. Bill Penzey of the Penzey Spice Company, an online retailer of spices (who by the way sells wonderful Apple/Pumpkin Pie Spices) alerts us to the fast approaching “Pi Day of the Century.” Bill says:

“The Pi Day of the century, 3.14/15 is only a little over a week away. For a time now Pi Day has been all about fun and of course pie, but with the way in recent years, science and even reality itself have come more and more under attack, I’m thinking maybe this year it’s time for Pi Day to emerge as something more than just fun.

For so much of our history, the people of our country and the world have benefited greatly from the science-based reality that has shaped America’s future. Science may be based on numbers, but science's actual value is in its humanity. It's beyond doubt that through science and the honest representation of reality our lives have become safer, healthier and happier. Yet today the very science that has done so much to reduce suffering in our lives is now under attack.

From the climate, to vaccines, to Wisconsin's own Governor Walker’s belief that there are more votes in denying evolution than there are in embracing it, clearly somewhere something has gone very wrong. There is more than enough blame to go all around for how we got here, but maybe this is one of those times that where we are is not nearly as important as where we need to be. Maybe rather than a debate of our differences, what we need is a celebration of what we share.

At Penzeys we think Pi Day could grow into just the holiday we need. There really is no time to lose to get on to celebrating the truth of science-based reality and the math behind it. And there is also no time better than now to get back to celebrating the kindness, compassion and the nurturing nature of our shared humanity that has always been behind the very best that science has brought to our lives.

In Pi, the number is all the value and beauty and wonder that is at the heart of the reality science holds. In the gift of a good slice of pie, the desert is all the kindness and compassion that our shared humanity encompasses. Pi Day really is ready to become so much more. And could there be a better day to relaunch Pi Day as the holiday we truly need than 3.14/15; the Pi Day of the Century…”

I’m all for Pi Day a la mode! Now the great alignment of the spheres, a once in a lifetime event, comes at 9:26 AM and approximately 53.5 seconds on the morning of Pi Day, Saturday March 14th, 2015 when time itself will align to the tenth digit with the universal irrational constant of PI, which as we all know equals about 22/7 or 3.1415926535…..

So what will you be doing at approximately 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 AM? I encourage you to go out and make a difference through teaching Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), of course use coins as examples of roundness whose parameters must be discovered by youth, not yet holding Pi in esteem, or perhaps you may only esteem holding a piece of pie at breakfast; then I bid you raise a glass of juice to the irrational numbers of this world, making the world go round.