Talk:Pi Day

Pi Day

I've also seen 22 July as Pi Day (22/7). I'm not sure how common this is, so I've refrained from putting it in the article for now. --Zundark, 2002 Jan 4

Polish TeX group (GUST) is also celebrating Pi Day. Should we add it? szopen

Sure, go ahead and add it! Also I've made a link to Pi Approximation Day which was referred to above. --Chuck Smith

should the UK pi day be 31st April? ;-) -- Tarquin

Should the article be titled "Pi Day" or "Pi day"?

I'd say Pi Day, like May Day, Labor Day, Arbor Day, Christmas Day, yadda yadda. --Brion

Tarquin: since 1 AU = earth's orbital radius, 1 radian = 1 au. in this case the two terms are interchangable, you can use radians or AU. However, since the earth's orbit is eliptical instead of round, it would probably be safer to use AU. - Tim

Removal of Einstein's Birthday information.

This is my second time coming back to remove information about Pi Day also being Albert Einstein's birthday. While this is most certainly verifiably, this article is not the place for this information because it violates Wikipedia inclusion policies. I understand that popular culture may see these events as intertwined, but it is simply a coincidence with a somewhat similar theme. March 14 is the only article that should document both of these facts.

Wikipedia articles cannot include cherry-picked facts (WP:INDISCRIMINATE). Just from doing a brief scan of March 14th births, there are at least two other historically-significant mathematical persons that share births on this day, and tens of others in other fields. Why not include them too? O, because they aren't as popular as Einstein...

I do understand that popular culture references are sometimes appropriate on Wikipedia. But WP:POPCULTURE has some questions for verifying viable facts to include: Has the subject acknowledged the existence of the reference? No, there is no mention on piday.com, the official website of Pi Day. If someone else can find other official literature, then you may have a point. Have reliable sources that don't generally cover the subject pointed out the reference? Again, if anyone can find a source WP:IRS, then please present it. I was not able to find one. Did any real-world event occur because of the reference? No, this is a coincidence. Larry Shaw did not choose March 14th because it was Einstein's birthday.

Further, Pi Day and Einstein's birthday being relevant together is only a synthesis of information WP:SYNTHESIS: Joining two independent facts into the conclusion that they are somehow relevant on this article. This is no reason to include it. See WP:NOR. Teimu.tm (talk) 22:21, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

I disagree. As an engineer I've been aware of π day since high school, but I just learned it is also Einstein's birthday this π day, 2011. I expect Wikipedia to connect facts like this. Do you seriously think that there is one person in the world interested in a ridiculous nerdy trivia-based holiday like π day who would not want to know that it is also Einstein's birthday? —Ben FrantzDale (talk) 17:09, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Common Date Format

There's been a bit of back and forth editing over the phrase "the more common" in the sentence "Thus, Pi Approximation Day is celebrated on 22/7 in the more common day/month format, or July 22." This phrase should not be included in the article anywhere, including saying month/day is more common.

First and foremost, this phrase does not add to the readability or comprehension of the sentence, section, or article. If you abstain from including it, I think you will find that the sentence still represents a coherent and focused idea. In fact, by adding the phrase, you add a context about date formats in the world that does not need to be implied on the article about Pi Day. It almost raises the question about where and who thinks it is more common.

Further, the English Wikipedia does not prefer any major national variety of the language (See WP:ENGVAR). While this is a bit different than say, a British-English spelling difference, I think you can extend this to say Wikipedia does not prefer any date format as well. Why should we go down this road of creating a bias towards one date format when, as stated, the phrase does not add anything to the idea?

And finally, if you do want to go down the road of preference, Pi Day has strong American ties (or more precisely, ties to users of month/day date format). The holiday was invented by American physicist Larry Shaw. The first celebration happened in the American city of San Francisco, CA. The holiday's roots are American. Please see WP:STRONGNAT. So in fact, if "the more common" is to be used anywhere, it should be used on the native American format. But, this is overkill, only to display that the phrase certainly should not describing day/month. As said, it shouldn't be said anywhere.

Teimu.tm (talk) 05:24, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

But it is adding useful information. Barely 1% of all countries use the month/day format so it's relatively rare, hence the need to clarify for various people around the world.Billzilla (talk) 05:33, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

I don't think you can assume people's need to clarification. You are indeed correct that worldwide, month/day is not as popular. However, what does this distinction bring to the table about Pi Day? Teimu.tm (talk) 05:45, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

The distinction is that it gives more information. I most certainly do not agree that it does not need clarification. Billzilla (talk) 07:27, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

I am trying to understand where you are coming from so could you please explain why it needs clarification in this article? "Giving more information" on the details detracts from the focus of the article, ALONG with all my previous points about the phrase. And please try to find supporting documentation from Wikipedia's policies and guidelines to back your points. Contradictions will not build consensus among people that disagree with you. Also, let me reiterate that you are perfectly correct that more countries use month/day. I'm simply just saying it's not appropriate here. Teimu.tm (talk) 09:03, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

It is tangential and irrelevant information to the subject "Pi Day". Moreover, to someone in the United States, that format is not the most common; the most prevalent format in that country is month/day. Simply, the discussion about commonality of date formats does not belong here. By the way, stating that "1% of all countries use the month/day format" is disingenous - the US is not the only country to use that format, and the number of people that use it is significantly larger than 1%. Mindmatrix 15:13, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

It is not only tangential and irrelevant, it's also prejudicial; and most importlantly, IT'S UNSOURCED. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:39, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Pi Approximation Day isn't sourced anywhere

I've kind of just been taking as truth based on the importance it gets in the intro, but Pi Approximation Day has no sources. Unfortunately, while it does seem to be the most legitimate spinoff holiday of Pi Day, it can't be verified as being true. If you have some reliable sources, please add them, or I will eventually remove its mention. Teimu.tm (talk) 05:00, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Here's a few I just dug up after quick Google searches:[1][2][3][4][5].

Some of these are better sources than others, but I think that any of them could be used.oknazevad (talk) 05:30, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your research Oknazevad. I will indeed be sourcing PAD (Pi Approximation Day) now. Even though they all do display some auras of self-publishing (some even reference this article, and would create a circular reference), I think 4 is the best based it's wide array of content partners. Teimu.tm (talk) 15:01, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Image

The image presented seems to be of a cheesecake, not of a pie. Should the image be deleted?