Today is Pi Day, all across the world, and many celebrate. Some celebrate with a slice of pie, and others just try to think well-rounded thoughts.
Yet there was a moment today that was the actual Pi moment. That moment deserves to be recognized in its own right.
The Pi moment occurred today a little before 2:00 a.m. this morning. Specifically, it occurred about 26 1/2 seconds after 1:59 a.m.
The precise Pi moment happens every year on March 14th at 1:59:26.53589793… in the wee hours of the morning.
Of course that is just an approximation. I would write down the exact time, but then this blog post would become too long.
Hmm, the hours/minutes/seconds are in base 60; the numbers after the decimal are base 10.
The precise moment could be expressed strictly as seconds past midnight. Or perhaps more accurately, as a fraction of a day, since that’s when the event is recognized.
Much of the fun of Pi Day comes from its wacky take on the fact that March happens to be the 3rd month of the year — hence 3/14 (which strictly speaking is in base 31). After that, I feel that to revert to something as prosaic as a straight decimal fraction would violate the spirit of the thing.
Hence 3/14 1:59:26.565…, which is both more fun and more culturally normative. And arguably more timely.
That said, questions involving Pi are often a matter of taste. Much like questions involving pie.