[This is a back issue of this site’s newsletter]
The newest game on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids is the oldest – you can search for your name in the digits of pi!
In 1998 I got a couple of million digits of pi (I have more now). Then, I converted it to “base 27”, that is, instead of writing pi as 3.14169… using our 10 digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, I used 27 different digits which I called A, B, C, … and Z. So, pi in base 27 comes out as a long string of letters. Then, I put them on the internet, and made it possible for people to search for their name in pi.
You may ask – “but… but… why???”
Well, those were the early days of the internet, when a lot of crazy things went online. (Hands up if you remember the “I Can Eat Glass” project!) This was one of them. This one proved very popular – I don’t know how many people have searched for their name in the digits of pi since then (for a long time the counter was broken) but there have been 146482 pi searchers in the past 4 years. Clearly, I’ve been providing a valuable service by letting people search for their name in pi!
If that were not reason enough to set up the page, there’s also the strange fact that the very first English word in the digits of pi is….. “pi!”
Now, I’ve given the page a new home on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids. Along with the new home comes some notes for teachers – suggestions for how to use the “pi search engine” to stoke up interest in this very important mathematical constant. So, if you’re in the mood for a bit of silly mathematical fun, drop by the pi search page now.
For more silly fun, the website’s facebook page is showing, right now, a picture of the “Milky Way” seen from the surface of “Mars”. Check it out, and if you like it, click “like” and “share”
Until next time!