Happy Pi Day to you

Today’s Farmdoc’s Blog post’s devoted to Pi Day [1, 2] which was last Monday. So I’m three days late. Better late than never, eh. Pi Day celebrates pi (ᴨ) [3] – the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet. It’s the mathematical constant formed by dividing a circle’s diameter into its circumference. Here are some facts about pi and Pi Day:

· Pi is so named because it’s the first letter of the Greek word for ‘perimeter’.

· Pi was first used with its current mathematical meaning in 1706.

· Pi Day is on 14 March, or as the Americans put it, 3/14. This is because pi begins 3.14.

· Pi’s decimal representation’s infinite. And no numerical sequence in it ever repeats.

· Pi has been computed to over a trillion digits.

· The ratio of the perimeter to the height of the Great Pyramid at Giza (constructed c. 2589-2566 BCE) is exactly twice pi.

· The Guinness-recognised record for reciting digits of pi is 67,890. It took a Chinese graduate student 24 hours and 4 minutes to do it – without an error.

· In 2015, Pi Day will reflect the first five digits of pi, i.e. 3/14/15.

· A common method of celebrating Pi Day is by eating its homophone, i.e. pie.

· Pi Day’s website’s a wealth of more good stuff about pi [4].

So, friends, I wish you, belatedly, Happy Pi Day.

P.S. It’s only 127 days to Pi Approximation Day - on 22 July (i.e. 22/7) because the fraction 22/7 is a common approximation of pi.

Aaron's sheer determination

First published in 1955, until 2000 it was known as the Guinness Book of Records. And since 2000 as Guinness World Records [1, 2]. Whatever its name, I’ve never owned a copy. Or even browsed through one. In Farmdoc’s Blog I’ve mentioned it only twice– both in 2008 [3, 4]. For someone fascinated by statistics and numbers, as I am, it’s odd. Maybe it’s because many of the activities the records are set in, are bizarre and contrived. As if wannabes excogitate an activity just to set a record and gain a citation in the Guinness book. Enter 35-year-old Aaron Hemley (pictured), from Callawadda in western Victoria [5]. Last week in nearby Stawell, watched by a crowd of 800, he shore 904 sheep in 48 hours – continuously apart from a 45-minute sleep [6, 7]. That’s a bit over three minutes per sheep. An amazing effort. Aaron trained for the marathon for six months. His team included wool classers, a masseuse, a doctor, a physiotherapist, a dietitican, and adjudicators. During the 48 hours he lost 5kg weight. Oh, I almost forgot: He broke the world endurance shearing record – by 24 hours! As someone who couldn’t shear even one sheep, I salute you, Aaron. Especially as your effort raised A$100,000 for the Stawell Hospital’s Oncology Unit. That’s A$110.62 per sheep.

farmdoc's blog post number 50

Happy Birthday to You, according to Guinness World Records, is the most popular song in the English language. Its melody comes from a song Good Morning to All written in 1893 by two Kentucky kindergarten teachers, Patty and Mildred Hill, as a ditty their young students could easily remember and sing. Indeed the Hills’ students made up the words to Happy Birthday to You and sang them to the tune of Good Morning to All. The combined melody and lyrics were first published in 1912. The song has been translated into over 18 languages, but it’s mostly sung in English. It was first copyrighted in 1935. In 1998 Warner Chappell, part of The Time-Warner Corporation, paid US$15m for the company owning the copyright. Warner Chappell – which reportedly charges US$10,000 for use of the song in for-profit situations, resulting in royalties of about US$2m per year – claims that the US copyright expires in 2030 until when public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid. But recent legal opinion doubts that the US copyright remains valid. Anyway singing it in private is free – as is singing For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow, which is in the public domain and, incidentally, is the second most popular song in the English language. Today is the 61st anniversary of my birth. Happy birthday to me.

farmdoc's blog post number 19

Robert Pirsig. Have you heard of him? He is a 79-year-old American writer and philosopher. I was reminded of him a month ago when I wanted to buy two webcams – so my sweetheart Vivienne and I could see each other when we are apart and we talk on Skype. When online I found a webcam price range of A$15-110, I quickly realised I had a decision to make. And at that exact moment my mind jumped to Pirsig’s 1974 book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. In it Pirsig explores the metaphysics of quality via discussions between motorcyclists during a journey across the USA. Wikipedia tells me it sold millions of copies in 27 languages, and has been called the most widely read philosophy book ever (after first being rejected by 121 publishers, more than any other bestselling book, according to Guinness World Records). I know nothing about Zen or Motorcycle Maintenance, but this is one of the most useful books I have read – which I did over 30 years ago, so I have little recall of its content. But the message it gave me is that quality – which Pirsig deemed undefinable – is paramount. So I bought two high-end webcams – Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, for the record. And they are top quality and wonderful – as is Pirsig’s book.