Editing Pi (section)

=== In popular culture ===
[[File:Pi pie2.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Pi Pie at Delft University|A pi pie. Many [[pies]] are circular, and "pie" and {{pi}} are [[homophones]], making pie a frequent subject of pi [[pun]]s.]]

Perhaps because of the simplicity of its definition and its ubiquitous presence in formulae, {{pi}} has been represented in popular culture more than other mathematical constructs.<ref>For instance, Pickover calls π "the most famous mathematical constant of all time", and Peterson writes, "Of all known mathematical constants, however, pi continues to attract the most attention", citing the [[Parfums Givenchy|Givenchy]] π perfume, [[Pi (film)]], and [[Pi Day]] as examples. See: {{cite book |title=Keys to Infinity |first=Clifford A. |last=Pickover |author-link=Clifford A. Pickover |publisher=Wiley & Sons |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-471-11857-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/keystoinfinity00clif/page/59 59] |url=https://archive.org/details/keystoinfinity00clif/page/59}} {{cite book |title=Mathematical Treks: From Surreal Numbers to Magic Circles |series=MAA spectrum |first=Ivars |last=Peterson |author-link=Ivars Peterson |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-88385-537-9 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gWSAraVhtAC&pg=PA17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129190818/https://books.google.com/books?id=4gWSAraVhtAC&pg=PA17 |archive-date=29 November 2016}}</ref>

In the [[Palais de la Découverte]] (a science museum in Paris) there is a circular room known as the ''pi room''. On its wall are inscribed 707 digits of {{pi}}. The digits are large wooden characters attached to the dome-like ceiling. The digits were based on an 1873 calculation by English mathematician [[William Shanks]], which included an error beginning at the 528th digit. The error was detected in 1946 and corrected in 1949.<ref>{{harvnb|Posamentier|Lehmann|2004|p=118}}.{{br}} {{harvnb|Arndt|Haenel|2006|p=50}}.</ref>

In [[Carl Sagan]]'s 1985 novel ''[[Contact (novel)|Contact]]'' it is suggested that the creator of the universe buried a message deep within the digits of {{pi}}. This part of the story was omitted from the [[Contact (1997 American film)|film]] adaptation of the novel.<ref>{{harvnb|Arndt|Haenel|2006|p=14}}. {{pb}} {{cite book |first1=Burkard |last1=Polster |first2=Marty |last2=Ross |author-link1=Burkard Polster |title=Math Goes to the Movies |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4214-0484-4 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |pages=56–57}}</ref> The digits of {{pi}} have also been incorporated into the lyrics of the song "Pi" from the 2005 album ''[[Aerial (album)|Aerial]]'' by [[Kate Bush]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Review of Aerial |first=Andy |last=Gill |journal=[[The Independent]] |date=4 November 2005 |url=http://gaffa.org/reaching/rev_aer_UK5.html |quote=the almost autistic satisfaction of the obsessive-compulsive mathematician fascinated by 'Pi' (which affords the opportunity to hear Bush slowly sing vast chunks of the number in question, several dozen digits long) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015122229/http://gaffa.org/reaching/rev_aer_UK5.html |archive-date=15 October 2006}}</ref> In the 1967 ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[Wolf in the Fold]]", an out-of-control computer is contained by being instructed to "Compute to the last digit the value of {{pi}}".{{r|life-of-pi}}

In the United States, [[Pi Day]] falls on 14&nbsp;March (written 3/14 in the US style), and is popular among students.{{r|life-of-pi}} {{pi}} and its digital representation are often used by self-described "math [[geek]]s" for [[inside joke]]s among mathematically and technologically minded groups. A [[Cheering#Chants in North American sports|college cheer]] variously attributed to the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] or the [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]] includes "3.14159".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rubillo |first=James M. |date=January 1989 |issue=1 |journal=[[The Mathematics Teacher]] |jstor=27966082 |page=10 |title=Disintegrate 'em |volume=82}} {{pb}} {{cite book |last=Petroski |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Petroski |isbn=978-1-139-50530-7 |page=47 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |title=Title An Engineer's Alphabet: Gleanings from the Softer Side of a Profession |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVXzxvS3MLUC&pg=PA47 |year=2011}}</ref> Pi Day in 2015 was particularly significant because the date and time 3/14/15 9:26:53 reflected many more digits of pi.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/03/14/pi-day-kids-videos/24753169/ |title=Happy Pi Day! Watch these stunning videos of kids reciting 3.14 |newspaper=USAToday.com |date=14 March 2015 |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315005038/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/03/14/pi-day-kids-videos/24753169/ |archive-date=15 March 2015}} {{pb}} {{Cite journal |url=http://probability.ca/jeff/writing/PiInstant.html |title=Pi Instant |last=Rosenthal |first=Jeffrey S. |date=February 2015 |page=22 |journal=Math Horizons |volume=22 |issue=3 |doi=10.4169/mathhorizons.22.3.22 |s2cid=218542599}}</ref> In parts of the world where dates are commonly noted in day/month/year format, 22 July represents "Pi Approximation Day", as 22/7&nbsp;=&nbsp;3.142857.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=Andrew |title=Pi Day: Why some mathematicians refuse to celebrate 14 March and won't observe the dessert-filled day |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/pi-day-march-14-maths-google-doodle-pie-baking-celebrate-30-anniversary-a8254036.html |website=The Independent |access-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424151944/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/pi-day-march-14-maths-google-doodle-pie-baking-celebrate-30-anniversary-a8254036.html |archive-date=24 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{anchor|tau}} <!-- (was) used in the redirect [[Tau (number)]] -->
Some have proposed replacing {{pi}} by [[Tau (mathematical constant)|{{math|1=''τ'' = 2''π''}}]], arguing that {{mvar|τ}}, as the number of radians in one [[Turn (angle)|turn]] or the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius, is more natural than {{pi}} and simplifies many formulae.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freiberger |first1=Marianne |last2=Thomas |first2=Rachel |contribution=Tau – the new π |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbR-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 |isbn=978-1-62365-411-5 |page=159 |publisher=Quercus |title=Numericon: A Journey through the Hidden Lives of Numbers |year=2015}} {{pb}} {{cite journal |last=Abbott |first=Stephen |title=My Conversion to Tauism |journal=Math Horizons |date=April 2012 |volume=19 |issue=4 |page=34 |doi=10.4169/mathhorizons.19.4.34 |s2cid=126179022 |url=http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Mathhorizons/apr12_aftermath.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928095819/http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Mathhorizons/apr12_aftermath.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Palais |first=Robert |title=π Is Wrong! |journal=The Mathematical Intelligencer |year=2001 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=7–8 |doi=10.1007/BF03026846 |s2cid=120965049 |url=http://www.math.utah.edu/~palais/pi.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622070009/http://www.math.utah.edu/~palais/pi.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2012}}</ref> This use of {{math|τ}} has not made its way into mainstream mathematics,<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110630/jsp/nation/story_14178997.jsp |title=Life of pi in no danger – Experts cold-shoulder campaign to replace with tau |journal=Telegraph India |date=30 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713084345/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110630/jsp/nation/story_14178997.jsp |archive-date=13 July 2013}}</ref> but since 2010 this has led to people celebrating Two Pi Day or Tau Day on June 28.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Forget Pi Day. We should be celebrating Tau Day |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-the-public/forget-pi-day-we-should-be-celebrating-tau-day |first=Emily |last=Conover |date=March 14, 2018 |access-date=2023-05-02 |work=Science News}}</ref>

In 1897, an amateur mathematician attempted to persuade the [[Indiana General Assembly|Indiana legislature]] to pass the [[Indiana Pi Bill]], which described a method to [[Squaring the circle|square the circle]] and contained text that implied various incorrect values for {{pi}}, including 3.2. The bill is notorious as an attempt to establish a value of mathematical constant by legislative fiat. The bill was passed by the Indiana House of Representatives, but rejected by the Senate, and thus it did not become a law.<ref>{{harvnb|Arndt|Haenel|2006|pp=211–212}}.{{br}} {{harvnb|Posamentier|Lehmann|2004|pp=36–37}}.{{br}} {{cite journal |last1=Hallerberg |first1=Arthur |date=May 1977 |title=Indiana's squared circle |journal=Mathematics Magazine |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=136–140 |jstor=2689499 |doi=10.2307/2689499}}</ref>

In contemporary [[internet culture]], individuals and organizations frequently pay homage to the number {{pi}}. For instance, the [[computer scientist]] [[Donald Knuth]] let the version numbers of his program [[TeX]] approach {{pi}}. The versions are 3, 3.1, 3.14, and so forth.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ntg.nl/maps/05/34.pdf |title=The Future of TeX and Metafont |first=Donald |last=Knuth |author-link=Donald Knuth |journal=TeX Mag |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=145 |date=3 October 1990 |access-date=17 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413230304/http://www.ntg.nl/maps/05/34.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2016}}</ref>