Okay, so sure, it's admittedly nerdy, but sheesh, why all the haters? One of my favorite high school memories was a party we had in 1992, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the decimal point--complete with an all-night party at the local YMCA, a huge decimal point cake, and all sorts of incredibly nerdy games and the like. (Note: I never said I was exactly normal). C'mon, let the kids have some fun--one can't be too much of a nerd, right?
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Tara C. Smith is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology. Her research involves a number of pathogens at the animal-human nexus. She also writes for The Panda's Thumb and previously for WIRED SCIENCE's Correlations. Please note the views expressed on this site are Dr. Smith's alone and may not be representative of the groups mentioned above.
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« Edenomics 101 | Main | Tangled Bank #49 »
Why all the haters?
Category: Humor
Posted on: March 14, 2006 2:02 PM, by Tara C. Smith
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Comments
Why didn't I know more people like you in high school? Anyway pi is just about the coolest number out there, except maybe for e, c, theta, etc. Who's all about the physical constants? Holla!
Posted by: mr.orange | March 14, 2006 2:25 PM
My old chemistry teacher told us once that in honour of Isaac Newton's birthday, we'd get that day off! Imagine our chagrin when we looked it up only to discover he was born on Christmas Day. You just can't toy with nerds like that! :)
Posted by: Dave S. | March 14, 2006 2:48 PM
Newton was smart, but he was a very mean man. He's one of the nerds who actually deserved to die a virgin.
Newton aside, I'm all about the nerd love.
Posted by: Dr. Free-Ride | March 14, 2006 3:01 PM
Here's some more constants: http://www.mathcad.com/library/constants/
I'm partial to the Golden Mean, myself.
Posted by: Todd | March 14, 2006 3:31 PM
forget about pi the coolest number is 42.
Posted by: DC | March 14, 2006 3:41 PM
42 is good but my favorite number has always been pi^e. It is probably just me...
In my youth, we did have a Newtonsday celebration. It coincided with that other celebration that happens on December 25th. I forget what it is called. Anyway, we had Newton carols and the whole deal.
On the first day of Newtonsday Sir Isaac gave to us, the concept of continuity...
Ah youth! (And nerdity...)
Posted by: DouglasG | March 14, 2006 3:55 PM
I've always been partial to i.
Posted by: Dale | March 14, 2006 4:23 PM
No, one cannot be too much of a nerd!
-Rob "renaissance nerd" Knop
Posted by: Rob Knop | March 14, 2006 5:45 PM
Wait a minute. 500th anniversary? You mean before 1492 there was no pi? How did circles of a given radius know what their circumference should be? How did the universe function at all? Oh, wait a minute. I get it--it was there all along, waiting to be discovered . . . but the year makes me suspicious--the whole Columbus/pi/Moors expelled from Spain thing sounds like some deeply concealed conspiracy. Just wondering.
Posted by: Beagledad | March 14, 2006 5:48 PM
dude, so nerdy. where did you go to HS, Bronx Science?
but then again, i was in the band. we did plenty of nerdy things. i can't believe i agreed to wear those hideous full-dress uniforms.
Posted by: kevin | March 14, 2006 6:42 PM
2*pi is the number that should have gotten the symbol; it's clearly more important than its half-baked counterpart, especially in complex analysis and Fourier transforms.
Posted by: Matt McIrvin | March 14, 2006 9:26 PM
Excuse me, the coolest number is e ^ (i * pi)!
And I know its value to a zillion d.p. too ;)
Posted by: Peter Barber | March 15, 2006 3:22 AM
You celebrated *decimal points*? Auugh! Those sneaky things are totally untrustworthy! Always dodging around digits, hiding under the bottom line... oh, you were talking about hating nerds. Never Mind.... :-) :-) :-)
Posted by: David Harmon | March 15, 2006 9:30 AM
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1142397757.shtml
Posted by: Big Bird | March 15, 2006 11:53 AM
500th anniversary of the decimal point--pi's from a different story. And Kevin, I went to a tiny public school in rural Ohio--just happened to have a really good math teacher. :)
Posted by: Tara C. Smith | March 15, 2006 12:31 PM
2*pi... naah. I like spheres and solid angles. I think that 4*pi should have received the special symbol :)
-Rob
Posted by: Rob Knop | March 15, 2006 2:55 PM