{"id":10661,"date":"2015-03-13T21:07:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-14T02:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=10661"},"modified":"2015-03-13T21:07:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-14T02:07:19","slug":"museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum of Science and Industry celebrates Pi Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shanley Chien<\/p>\n

Pie lovers and math enthusiasts unite! The Museum of Science and Industry is celebrating Pi Day this Saturday by giving away a free slice of pie or pizza to the first 314 attendees to arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [museum\u2019s] food court will typically have three or four selections of toppings and we\u2019ll have dessert pies like coconut cream,\u201d said Beth Boston, communications manager at the museum.<\/p>\n

Guests will receive a voucher at the ticket stand and can redeem them at the museum\u2019s Brain Food Court on the lower level.<\/p>\n

The mathematical constant pi (\u03c0) is the ratio of a circle\u2019s circumference to its diameter and that approximate value is 3.141592653.\u00a0As an irrational fraction,\u00a0decimal representation is never-ending.<\/p>\n

That’s why Pi Day is celebrated every March 14, and this year is particularly special because it marks the next two digits in the constant\u2019s succession: 3.14.15. (If you\u2019re especially enamored, don\u2019t forget to set your alarms for 9:26:53 a.m. and p.m. so the date and time represent pi\u2019s first 10 digits.)<\/p>\n

Boston said attendees can complement their math-themed day by visiting the museum\u2019s new permanent exhibit: \u201cNumbers in Nature.\u201d The exhibit explores numerical\u00a0patterns that are seen in the natural world, such as the golden ratio in spirals, Voronoi diagrams in cracks, and fractals in snowflakes.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the exhibit is its centerpiece \u201cMirror Maze,\u201d which features an 1,800-square-foot hallway of mirrors. The maze is designed with repeating equilateral triangles and mirrored walls to give it the appearance of infinite hallways.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Children explore the Mirror Maze in the Museum of Science and Industry’s new 1,800-square-foot permanent exhibit. (Museum of Science and Industry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBy showcasing that fascinating numerical patterns that are all around us, we hope that both kids and adults alike will become inspired to discover more about how math, as a part of the STEM fields, is a strong and important presence in our daily lives,\u201d said Kurt Haunfelner, MSI\u2019s vice president of exhibits and collections in a press release. Stem fields cover science, technology, engineering and mathematics.<\/p>\n

While some mathematicians, like University of Chicago math professor J. Peter May, plan on staying at home and proving theorems for Pi Day, others will take advantage of the homophonic pun and indulge their sweet and savory tooth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family usually celebrates Pi Day by baking pies: pumpkin pie, apple pie, chicken potpie, etc. We typically invite some friends over or do a potluck type of thing,\u201d said Dustin Belt, math lecturer\u00a0at Northwestern University. \u201cIt is fun for the kids because they get to eat pie, and we talk about why on earth mommy and daddy are letting them eat so much dessert.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as much fun as it is to consume pie, Belt said it\u2019s also important to take the day to appreciate the importance of math.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about the number pi, and that the day is also a fun way to remember about how math in general affects our lives in little and big ways everyday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Museum of Science and Industry is located at 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr. and is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Pi Day Pie (Tarehna Wicker\/Flickr)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shanley Chien Pie lovers and math enthusiasts unite! The Museum of Science and Industry is celebrating Pi Day this Saturday by giving away a free slice of pie or pizza to the first 314 attendees to arrive. \u201cThe [museum\u2019s] food court will typically have three or four selections of toppings and we\u2019ll have dessert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":10694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,28,29,26,1,243],"tags":[403,404,402,192],"class_list":["post-10661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-general-interest","category-health-and-science","category-topics","category-uncategorized","category-winter-2015","tag-mueseum-of-science-and-industry","tag-numbers-in-nature-exhibit","tag-pi-day","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nMuseum of Science and Industry celebrates Pi Day - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Museum of Science and Industry celebrates Pi Day - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Shanley Chien Pie lovers and math enthusiasts unite! The Museum of Science and Industry is celebrating Pi Day this Saturday by giving away a free slice of pie or pizza to the first 314 attendees to arrive. \u201cThe [museum\u2019s] food court will typically have three or four selections of toppings and we\u2019ll have dessert […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-14T02:07:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/6983782517_952c5b6853_o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"shanleychien\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"shanleychien\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/museum-of-science-and-industry-celebrates-pi-day\/\",\"name\":\"Museum of Science and Industry celebrates Pi Day - 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