When Cora Lee and I wrote The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places, my friend and math-teacher-extraordinaire Nancy Rawlinson gave us lots of useful advice. Last Friday, March 14, Nancy turned up at my house with a lovely, freshly-baked pie. Why? Because it was Pi Day!
Pi Day? Yes, it's the third month and the fourteenth day -- 3/14. And what is pi? 3.14 approximately.
Nancy had wanted to celebrate Pi Day with her students but it's March break in Ontario, so she she thought of her fellow pie and math enthusiast -- and my family got a delicious dessert that disappeared faster than you can say "irrational number."
For those of you who really love math, the pie was unveiled just before 2:00 o'clock -- 1:59 to be precise. Can you guess why?
Gillian O'Reilly
