Today, if you’re like a lot of math nerds out there, it’s a very special day. It’s Pi Day: 3/14 on the calendar, or 3.14 if you want to get mathematical. Twenty five years ago, math enthusiast Larry Shaw organized the first Pi Day event in San Francisco. And today, we’re celebrating the big day with conversation and song.
Of course, it’s not easy to choose just one guest when you’re doing a creative pi segment. The world is filled with artistic tributes to pi. There’s Darren Aronofsky’s creepy 1998 thriller, “Pi,” Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning movie “Life of Pi” (and the book it’s based on), and songs ranging from rap to electronic.
But a certain musical talent stood out to us: Kenneth Ferrier, geologist, pi enthusiast, and post-doc at Harvard University. He co-wrote and performed the song “Mathematical Pi” with his friend Antoni Chan, and it’s since taken on a life of its own on Youtube and pi tribute sites (they exist).