pi day
kcollins | March 17, 2010 It was announced today that the pie entered for pi day from the USA Science and Engineering Blog,
Joanna Pool's Irrationally Good Chocolate Basil pie, made it to the top 10! But we need your votes!!
How to vote:
1) Go to seriouseats.com
2) Register on the site
3) Vote!
rallain | March 14, 2010Oh, I know you missed it. Really, it wasn't your fault. Pi day fell on a Sunday, so how are you supposed to have pi-day activities in class? Don't let it stop you. You are better than that. Do the activity anyway. What to do? Here are some suggestions. (Suggestions aimed mostly at the high school level)
Plot Diameter vs. Circumference
This is a great one. Let your students find as many round things as they can (cylinders work the best - or flat stuff). Measure the circumference (you can use a string or a tape measure) and the diameter. Since the relationship between these two is…
kcollins | March 14, 2010 Old time vinegar pie
It's Pi day or Pi(e) day...either way you look at it today is 3/14 so a good excuse to eat some pie and Scienceblogs and Serious Eats have teamed up to hold a pi(e) contest. Upon discovering this contest I enthusiastically embarked upon dreaming up something fitting for the famous number. After inspiration from some of the previous year's submissions, I came up with the idea of 'irrationally good' pie, since pi is an irrational number. I wanted something that sounded like it shouldn't be in a pie, yet it was good. My main hurdle was I couldn't think of anything that…
vlicata | March 14, 2010Well, here's my son and my entry for the Scienceblogs + Serious Eats Pi Day Contest:
(Warning: this entry may be frightening to children or people who know how to make pies.)
Tony and Vince's "Chocolate Pudding Meringue Pi Pi Pie (not quite)". It was designed to have the following dimensions:
Circumference = height = 2 x pi x r = 3.14 x diameter
The pie is a classic chocolate pudding pie base with a giant meringue and whipped cream pile atop it (pile is about the best word for it).
But, as you can see, we had to make up most of the height with a highly extended candle -- when put in the…
jstemwedel | March 13, 2010Longtime readers of this blog may remember last year's orgy of pies on the run-up to Pi Day (March 14th, or 3-14). This March at Casa Free-Ride, there's been less pie making, in large part due to the fact that I'm no longer on sabbatical (either from my job or from coaching soccer).
But the bake-off is on again, so I figured that I needed to feed you all one really good pie (or pie recipe, anyway).
This pie melds three flavors that play very well together: rich chocolate, tart cherries, and almonds. As a bonus, it puts those flavors together in a pie that is rich but not heavy, one that…
rallain | March 10, 2010Pi day is March 14th - get it? (3.14) I am a big fan of Pi. Here is my first post to celebrate the awesomeness of Pi (I know this is early, but I was too excited to wait).
How can you determine Pi?
Oh sure, tons of high schools do the classic experiment. Measure the circumference and diameter of as many round things as possible. Plot diameter vs. circumference. The slope will be Pi. Really, this is a great lab to do for all sorts of ages. The key thing is that students can see what Pi really means. I am not going to talk about this lab, I am going to do some thing cooler.
What if I…
amillikan | March 16, 2009
March 14, we here at ScienceBlogs celebrated the universally important ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter—the number that has now been calculated to over a trillion digits—the mythical, the irrational Pi. On this highly-regarded mathematical day, ScienceBloggers turned in their final submissions to the Pi Day Pie Bake-off Contest, in which ScienceBloggers were invited to submit a picture and recipe of their favorite home-baked pies by posting an entry on their blogs.
The contest is open until 10pm (EST) tonight, so if you haven't cast a vote for your favorite ScienceBlogs pie…
sciencewoman | March 12, 2009When the Overlordz announced a pie contest in honor of Pi day, I thought that I might be able to muster something up. But after seeing Janet's seven(!) delectable pies, Maria's pie + cocktail, Jess's "yes pecan" pie, and Zuska's bird pie, I realized that I don't have the skills or the time to compete with these kitchen mavens. I'm a busy woman. Most nights dinner is done in a hurry and deserts are a rare luxury. Baked deserts even more so.
But I can make a mean pot pie. It's quick, it's easy, and it's comfort food. I got the original inspiration from Real Simple, but the recipe is…
bioephemera | March 12, 2009The Pi Day bill went up for a vote today and passed 391-10. Now Congressman Jason Chaffetz explains (via Twitter, natch) why he dared vote against the hallowed number:
Fie, fie! No Yes PeCan Pi for you, Representative Chaffetz (R-Utah)! But kudos for a creative excuse.
pontiff | March 12, 20093.141592...om nom nom nom! Behold! Mrs. Pontiff's entry into the Scienceblogs pi day pie contest, variously known as "Spicy Brittle Bacon Chocolate Pie", "Spicy Pi Bacon Squared", or "Bacon brittle...om nom nom nom nom!"
(On the March 14, a poll will open on scienceblogs for the pi contest. Then all two of the readers of the Quantum Pontiff (hi mom!) can then vote for Bacon Bacon Bacon Pi Pi Pie Pie!)
Pi is a miraculous number. Who would have thought that the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it's diameter was always the same? Or that you could express this number with some 4's…
bioephemera | March 10, 2009So I observed Pi day by baking a pie. But Representative Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, has a much grander idea: let's pass a resolution!
Witness H.Res.224, introduced yesterday:
Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes.
Whereas the Greek letter (Pi) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter;Whereas the ratio Pi is an irrational number, which will continue infinitely without repeating, and has been calculated to over one trillion digits;Whereas Pi is a recurring constant that has…
bioephemera | March 9, 2009Rumor has it there's going to be a no-holds-barred culinary throwdown here at Scienceblogs in honor of Pi Day. Personally, I need little excuse to make a pie. And the staffer needs little excuse to eat pie - particularly pecan pie. So here is my entry. . . .the "Yes, PeCan" Pi.
As pies go, this is a simple one that can handle some imprecision. It's a little different every time I do it. And in the spirit of 3.141592-oh-whatever-who-cares, I embrace freely rounding off quantities whenever I feel like it.* In fact, I used my ubercool but uberimprecise Equal Measure to make this Pi:
"Yes,…
esiegel | March 14, 2008Happy Pi Day! Even the BBC has a nice article on this one. Maybe someday, the US will, too.
And yes, it's nerdy, I know, but what's frightening is that I actually have the first line of that image memorized somehow...