Circles, Maths and Pi Day

Six Books of Euclid

"A rare and beautiful geometry primer from the 19th century.
Red, yellow, blue - and of course black - are the colours that Oliver Byrne employs for the figures and diagrams in his most unusual 1847 edition of Euclid, published by William Pickering and printed by Chiswick Press, and which prompt the surprised reader to think of Mondrian. The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others: "The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners."

Oliver Byrne (c. 1810-c. 1880) was an Irish author and civil engineer. Little is known about his life, though he wrote a considerable number of books. As Surveyor of Her Majesty's Settlements in the Falkland Islands, Byrne had already published mathematical and engineering works, but never anything like his edition on Euclid. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.

Each proposition is set in Caslon italic, with a four-line initial, while the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow and blue."

Reference: Amazon.com, Editorial review, product description.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862
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ReferenceTURNBULL WWW SERVER, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
University of St Andrews

Klaus Schröer in his, Das Geheimnes der Proportionsstudie, published by Waxmann Publisher, Germany in 1998, was the first to recognize that Leonardo da Vinci, in his Vitruvian Man, is attempting to square the circle, to demonstrate how a square and circle of equal area can be created.

'The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 It is accompanied by notes based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. It is stored in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy, and, like most works on paper, is displayed only occasionally.'

Reference: Image and citation from WORLD -MYSTERIES.com, Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

The well renowned mathematician Albert Eistein was born on Pi Day, 14 March 1879. A famous quote from Einstein "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

Albert Einstein
Buy This Allposters.com

I have always been fascinated by these crop shapes. The geometric pattern in this image shows a coded image which represents the first ten digits of pi - 3.141592654. This complex crop circle appeared in a field near Barbury Castle, an iron-age hill fort in Wiltshire, England.

The astrophysicist Michael Reed, said:

"The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up. The little dot near the centre is the decimal point.
"The code is based on 10 angular segments with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.
"Starting at the centre and counting the number of one-tenth segments in each section contained by the change in radius clearly shows the values of the first 10 digits in the value of pi."

Reference: "Baffling Crop Circles Equal Pi." Metro.co.uk. June 18, 2008. Accessed: June 15, 2009.

This puzzle looks complicated but it is so easy to read once you learn how to read it. The coded image depicts 3.141592654, the first ten digits of Pi.
Step 1. The exterior circle was divided into ten equal parts (a bit like a dartboard). It is quite easy to find the ten staggered edges located at strategic points around the crop circle. There are ten sectors of the circle because there are 10 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. This sets the basic framework.
Step 2. Each number in Pi is represented in the diagram by a corresponding number of coloured blocks. It begins in the centre with the first number three, 3, which is represented by three red blocks moving in a clockwise direction. These are the blocks between the first edge and the second edge.
Step 3. Moving around the circle, the decimal point is represented by a small circle.
Step 4. Moving around the circle to the next edge, there is only one sector covered, the green one, which means that the next number is one, 1.
Step 5. The next edge is 4 steps away, the purple sectors.
Step 6. By following this pattern, Dr Mike Reed found the next seven digits of the number Pi: one orange sector, 1, five blue sectors, 5, nine yellow sectors, 9, two purple sectors, 2, six red sectors, 6, five green sectors, 5, four dark blue sectors, 4. The three circles at the end represent three dots meaning that the number goes forever, to infinity.

How easy was that!?

Reference: Image and info from Mail online

Rules 2008: Each row, column, and jigsaw region must contain exactly the first twelve digits of pi, including repeats: 3.14159265358. Notice that each region will contain two 1's, two 3's, three 5's, and no 7's. This puzzle is the most fun you'll ever have memorizing the first twelve digits of p.
Brainfreeze Puzzles have come up with Pi Day Sudoku. Their Pi Day Sudoku puzzles are free to use and distribute. If you want to download the printable PDF version just click on the sudoku of your choice and the link will take you to the puzzle.

Pi Day Sudoku 2008

Rules 2009: Fill in the grid so that each row, column, and jigsaw region contains 1-9 exactly once and p three times.


Pi Day Sudoku 2009

Rules 2010: Fill in the grid so that each row, column, and block contains 1-9 exactly once.


Pi Day Sudoku 2010

If you click here you can find where in Pi your birthday first occurs. This is fun. Enjoy!