The American mathematical community has taken to celebrating 14 March as "Pi Day" because the Americans write the date as 3/14, interpreted as 3.14.
Today, 22 July then, is the much superior "British Pi Day" (I just named it that), because, first of all, the line in 22/7 actually does denote division, and 22/7 overshoots pi by less than 0.0014, while the American value undershoots it by more than 0.0015. So, take patriotic pride, all you Brits and other members of the Commonwealth of Nations! Your pi is in every way superior to the American pi.
22 July = British Pi Day
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22 July = British Pi Day
#1 
by Roger Cooke » Jul 22, 2010 3:20 pm
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#2 by Sityl » Jul 22, 2010 3:23 pm
Although, it's not better than march 14th @ 1:59. 
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#3 by Tyrannical » Jul 22, 2010 3:26 pm
That'll rank right up there with that "towel" holiday.
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#4 by Roger Cooke » Jul 22, 2010 3:31 pm
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#5 by HughMcB » Jul 22, 2010 3:36 pm
Biritsh Pi trumps American Pi!
I wonder how the song British Pi would go?
I wonder how the song British Pi would go?
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#6 by Tyrannical » Jul 22, 2010 3:40 pm
Good fences make good neighbors
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#7 by Sityl » Jul 22, 2010 4:02 pm
Hi, Hi, Mr. British pie
Walked my collie to the lollie
but the candy was nigh
That bad young girl was eating marmite and rye
Saying this won't be the day that I die.
Walked my collie to the lollie
but the candy was nigh
That bad young girl was eating marmite and rye
Saying this won't be the day that I die.
Stephen Colbert wrote:Now, like all great theologies, Bill [O'Reilly]'s can be boiled down to one sentence - 'There must be a god, because I don't know how things work.'
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Sityl - Name: Ser Sityllan Payne
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#8 by Roger Cooke » Jul 22, 2010 4:07 pm
Ah THAT towel! Well, I hadn't heard of the day (haven't been in Britain since Adams died), but I have certainly heard of the towel. Neither day is likely to supplant Guy Fawkes Day, I'm sure.
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#9 by z8000783 » Jul 22, 2010 4:24 pm
I don’t simply believe in miracles - I rely on them
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#10 by natselrox » Jul 22, 2010 4:34 pm
DD/MM/YYYY ftw.
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#11 by chairman bill » Jul 22, 2010 4:45 pm
Tomorrow is steak & kidney pie day. Just saying
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#12 by ConnyRaSk » Jul 22, 2010 4:59 pm
mmm 
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#13 by HughMcB » Jul 22, 2010 5:20 pm
num1cubfn wrote:Hi, Hi, Mr. British pie
Walked my collie to the lollie
but the candy was nigh
That bad young girl was eating marmite and rye
Saying this won't be the day that I die.
"So we're just done with phrasing?"
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HughMcB - RS Donator
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#14 by Roger Cooke » Jul 22, 2010 11:37 pm
First, goddamn it! I never get to think of a good idea first! My greatest discoveries as a mathematician have been rediscoveries of things people had forgotten about.
Second, what's with that article, saying that 22/7 is an approximation of pi, as if 3.14 wasn't an approximation? And if the author had actually read Archimedes' paper on the measurement of a circle, he would know that Archimedes said quite explicitly that the ratio of a circle to its diameter is larger than 3 10/71 and smaller than 3 1/7. In other words, he gave upper and lower bounds on pi. He didn't say pi was 3.14, and he couldn't have, since he didn't have a place-value decimal notation for doing so. That's an article that is in serious need of revision.
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#15 by z8000783 » Jul 23, 2010 10:07 am
Calm down dear. Anyway I think your idea is better, 22 July should be Pi day if only outside of America. Anyone using dates round the wrong way doesn't count.
Another curiosity though, I wonder how we would have referred to the London bombings had they happened a week later, 14/7 or 7/14?
John
Another curiosity though, I wonder how we would have referred to the London bombings had they happened a week later, 14/7 or 7/14?
John
I don’t simply believe in miracles - I rely on them
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#16 by Roger Cooke » Jul 23, 2010 7:14 pm
z8000783 wrote:Calm down dear. Anyway I think your idea is better, 22 July should be Pi day if only outside of America. Anyone using dates round the wrong way doesn't count.
Another curiosity though, I wonder how we would have referred to the London bombings had they happened a week later, 14/7 or 7/14?
John
In France, they'd probably have been called the Bastille Day bombings.
I wondered how 9/11 would be translated into the rest of the world. It appears to be the unique exception to the dating system used everywhere except in the United States. It's particularly coincidental, since the emergency telephone number in the US is 911, whereas in Britain it is (or used to be, when I lived there) 999.
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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Re: 22 July = British Pi Day
#18 by Roger Cooke » Jul 24, 2010 9:24 pm
jaydot wrote:which, when inverted, is 666.
Oh. My. God. It means the end of the world! Good thing it hasn't happened yet.
"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary" -- Mark Twain
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