International Day of Mathematics 2023: History, significance, and theme

International Day of Mathematics or Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 every year to recognise the mathematical constant, Pi, which defines the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. The value for Pi is 3.14.

It is celebrated by mathematics enthusiasts around the globe to recognise and appreciate the importance of mathematics in our daily lives. The day is celebrated by various schools, universities, and mathematics organisations globally with a unique theme with an aim of promoting mathematics education and awareness.

For people who follow the month/date format, March 14 represents the value of Pi (3.14). March is the third month of the year while the following number is 14, hence the March 14 date.

Theme:

The theme for Pi Day 2023 is "Mathematics for Everyone", proposed by Marco Zarco Rotairo from Philippines' Trece Martires City National High School, according to the official website of the celebration.

History:

The day was recognised in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw as he organised a large-scale celebration at the San Francisco Exploratorium in the United States. It was first celebrated by cutting a Pi-shaped pie, and the recitation of the value of pi to as many decimal places as possible.

The value of Pi was first calculated by a mathematician named Archimedes of Syracuse. It was later accepted by the scientific community when Leonhard Euler used the symbol of Pi in 1737.

In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in its 40th General Conference decided to observe Pi Day as International Mathematics Day.

Significance:

Pi is an irrational and transcendental number, which means that its decimal representation never ends and never repeats. Since its exact value cannot be known, we can never find the exact area or circumference of a circle.

People in Egypt believed that the pyramids of Giza were built on the principles of pi. The ratio between the height of the pyramids and the perimeter of their base is the same as that between a circle's radius and circumference.

The day is celebrated to recognise and appreciate the importance of mathematics in our daily lives. Pi is a fundamental constant which has been significant in performing calculations and Mathematics has been studied and used by scientists.

It also coincides with the birth anniversary of scientist Albert Einstein. Widely renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking died on this day in 2018.