Fun with π (Pi): A Potpourri of Pilish Algorithms
Since its first documented appearance about four millennia ago, the number π (pi) has become not just an oft-encountered constant in mathematics and physics but a cultural phenomenon, with numerous appearances in books, artworks, TV shows, and films. This talk will discuss a handful of these somewhat recreational aspects of pi, each of which turns out to have non-trivial connections to serious mathematics and/or computer algorithms. Among our topics will be curious features of pi's digits, memorizing the digits using a human-based algorithm, pi in graphic design, the most beautiful digit-computing algorithm, and the wonders of Pilish: a constrained dialect of English in which the number of letters in successive words matches the digits of pi.
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- Date: 20 Mar 2025
- Time: 08:00 PM to 09:30 PM
- All times are (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
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- 35 Olden St
- Princeton, New Jersey
- United States 08544
- Building: Computer Science Building
- Room Number: 105
Speakers
Michael Keith
Fun with π (Pi): A Potpourri of Pilish Algorithms
Biography:
Michael Keith is a retired software engineer who was employed at Bell Labs, the David Sarnoff Research Center, Intel, and a small startup (Ambric), focusing primarily on computer graphics and audio/video compression algorithms. His abiding interest in the number pi started with Martin Gardner's column in the July 1960 Scientific American and grew over the years to include many facets of this fascinating number, such as those that will be discussed in this presentation. Mike's 2010 book of stories and poems, "Not A Wake," is the only book ever published written entirely in Pilish.
All Princeton ACM / IEEE Computer Society meetings are open to the public. Students and their parents are welcome. There is no admission charge, and refreshments are served.