Pi is a very old number. We know that the Egyptians and the Babylonians knew about the existence of the constant ratio pi, although they didn't know its value nearly as well as we do today. They had figured out that it was a little bigger than 3; the Babylonians had an approximation of 3 1/8 (3.125), and the Egyptians had a somewhat worse approximation of 4*(8/9)^2 (about ), which is slightly less accurate and much harder to work with. Rhind Papyrus

What is "pi"?

THE NOTATION OF PI The first to use the symbol π with its current meaning was William Jones in He was a Welsh mathematician. Euler adopted the symbol in 1737 and it soon became a standard. WILLIAM JONES LEONHARD EULER

IT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ARCHIMEDES WHO WAS THE FIRST TO OBTAIN A THEORETICAL CALCULATION OF PI. –H–HE CONCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: 223/71<PI<22/7 ARCHIMEDES USED INEQUALITIES VERY SOPHISTICATEDLY HERE TO SHOW THAT HE KNEW PI DID NOT EQUAL 22/7. HE NEVER CLAIMED TO HAVE FOUND THE EXACT VALUE. IT HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT MISSIONS OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY TO CALCULATE PI MORE AND MORE PRECISELY Archimedes The Bible contains a verse that tells us a value of pi that was used. “And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and its height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about”- (I Kings 7, 23)

3.14 and Beyond… The numbers to the right of the 3 never repeat in a pattern.

ALBERT EINSTEIN WAS BORN ON PI DAY IN 1879

Larry Shaw, the organizer of the first Pi Day celebration at the Exploratorium in San FranciscoExploratoriumSan Francisco Observed byWorldwide Significance 3, 1, and 4 are the three most significant figures of π PiePie eating, discussions about π [1] [1]

The record for memorizing Pi was achieved by Chao Lu (China) who recited Pi from memory to 67,890 places, at the Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi province, China, on 20 November Chao Lu, a chemistry student, attempted the record after practising for 4 years. The attempt lasted 24 hrs 4 min and was recorded on 26 video tapes. News reports from CCTV (China Central Television) and from Yangling TV submitted with the claim. The attempt was witnessed by 8 officials, Maths professors of the NWAFU and 20 students to assist the witnesses.

WILLIAM L. SCHAAF, NATURE AND HISTORY OF PI