Skip to main content

Pi Day

March 14 is Pi Day.  Those who have some familiarity with basic arithmetic will know that pi is a mathematical constant - a ratio, in fact - whose value is approximated to 3.14.  So 14/3 (or 3/14, as the Americans write it), today, is pi day.

 Interestingly or coincidentally, it is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, arguably the greatest genius who ever lived. 

 The New Yorker has published, among many illuminating articles, a very humorous questionnaire on the occasion: Diagnostic Exam: Do You Have Math Anxiety?  A sample question:

What is a hypotenuse? 
(a) A very graceful hypot. 
(b) An overweight chanteuse. 
(c) The  French word for profound boredom.
Mathematics is often assumed to be a scary monster.  Actually it can be sheer fun if we learn to exercise our logical faculty properly.  Most people don't want to think - that's the simple truth.  Mathematics calls for some abstract thinking also which is assumed to be boring or even scary.  Hence many give up maths.  In other words, they give up logical thinking.  And they run after frauds like godmen and miracle workers.  

There's so much irrationality in our world today in spite of all the progress that we are making  with the help of science and technology which are founded on mathematics.  We want the benefits of rational thinking.  We have no shame in accepting the contributions of rational thinkers when it suits us.  But when it comes to our petty notions about many things which are nothing more than superstitions, we cling tenaciously to inanities.  

That's why Pi Day is important.  We have to bring some basic maths into our lives.  Some simple rational thinking.  

A concluding question adapted from The New Yorker:

What do you do when you travel to a foreign country and need to figure out the currency?
(a) I ask, “How much is that in real money?”
(b) I ring up my godman's receptionist.
(c) I demand nationalism and seek to convert my country's currency as the international currency. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. magiceyeMarch 14, 2016 at 7:00 AM

    Loved the last one!! :)

    Happy Pi Day to you too!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. parwatisingariMarch 14, 2016 at 7:17 AM

    :) you beat me to it, last year I did write a blog on this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 14, 2016 at 7:22 AM

      Morning mail from New Yorker reminded me, Sharmila.

      Delete
  3. sunaina sharmaMarch 14, 2016 at 7:49 PM

    Teaching math has become a bone of contention - how do we teach math correctly? Do we make kids memorize tables, or do we teach them to think? Do we follow traditional methods of teaching or do we apply methods that are confusing to parents but ok to kids? Many Indian friends have made their kids learn their tables. While I was wondering what I should do with my son who hasn't yet 'achieved' that fete, my son comes home and tells me the solution to a multiplication sentence and asks me to give him another one. I try him and he solves that. I ask him how he did it and he tells me the logic his teacher has taught. Do I boast that he knows the tables now....:D? Not really. But I am happy he is understanding the method.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 14, 2016 at 8:45 PM

      A very interesting question from you, Sunaina (as usual, I must add).

      Teaching math requires entirely different strategies according to the level. At the elementary level, it is important to teach the primary tables to the child. Basic addition and multiplication should be part of the child's primary skills. You can't do away with rote learning here.

      The logical skills develop gradually. No child will enjoy learning geometry unless he learns to employ logical skills. When he comes to algebra, abstract thinking and analytical skills also become necessary. The real skill of the teacher lies in developing those skills and it is not a very easy job. But it need not be a Herculean task either.

      I understand that teachers often fail in ensuring that the pupil knows the fundamentals required for the particular concept. For example, before teaching factorisation a teacher should ensure that the pupil knows basic arithmetic of addition and multiplication as well as employing those skills to divide numbers into their possible factors.

      At the higher levels, the challenges are very demanding simply because a lot of fundamental concepts have to be understood by the pupil before getting into the complexities involved.

      Delete
  4. UnknownMarch 15, 2016 at 6:53 AM

    An interesting post and discussion here:) By the way, I wish many people read this post and ponder over the virtues of logical and critical thinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 15, 2016 at 9:53 AM

      As far as I have understood, people don't want to think. They want others to do that job for them. That's why we have so many religion-related problems these days.

      Delete
  5. HemaMarch 16, 2016 at 1:12 AM

    What a great post! I laughed out loud at option c of the hypotenuse question :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 16, 2016 at 6:47 AM

      The credit should go to the New Yorker.

      Glad you liked it.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
18 comments
Read more

Dopamine

Fiction Mathai went to the kitchen and picked up a glass. The TV was screening a program called Ask the Doctor . “Dopamine is a sort of hormone that gives us a feeling of happiness or pleasure,” the doc said. “But the problem with it is that it makes us want more of the same thing. You feel happy with one drink and you obviously want more of it. More drink means more happiness…” That’s when Mathai went to pick up his glass and the brandy bottle. It was only morning still. Annamma, his wife, had gone to school as usual to teach Gen Z, an intractable generation. Mathai had retired from a cooperative bank where he was manager in the last few years of his service. Now, as a retired man, he took to watching the TV. It will be more correct to say that he took to flicking channels. He wanted entertainment, but the films and serial programs failed to make sense to him, let alone entertain. The news channels were more entertaining. Our politicians are like the clowns in a circus, he thought...
11 comments
Read more

The Vegetarian

Book Review Title: The Vegetarian Author: Han Kang Translator: Deborah Smith [from Korean] Publisher: Granta, London, 2018 Pages: 183 Insanity can provide infinite opportunities to a novelist. The protagonist of Nobel laureate Han Kang’s Booker-winner novel, The Vegetarian , thinks of herself as a tree. One can argue with ample logic and conviction that trees are far better than humans. “Trees are like brothers and sisters,” Yeong-hye, the protagonist, says. She identifies herself with the trees and turns vegetarian one day. Worse, she gives up all food eventually. Of course, she ends up in a mental hospital. The Vegetarian tells Yeong-hye’s tragic story on the surface. Below that surface, it raises too many questions that leave us pondering deeply. What does it mean to be human? Must humanity always entail violence? Is madness a form of truth, a more profound truth than sanity’s wisdom? In the disturbing world of this novel, trees represent peace, stillness, and nonviol...
6 comments
Read more

The RSS does not exist

An organisation that has 80,000 branches in India does not exist legally in any document. This is the cover story of The Caravan this month. By the way, The Caravan is one of the very few publications that still continues to exist in spite of being overtly critical of Narendra Modi and his Sangh Parivar. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is not registered as an organisation under any of the usual Indian registration laws such as the Societies Registration Act or as a trust or company. It functions as an unregistered voluntary organisation, though it is arguably the largest public organisation in the country. This situation makes the organisation absolutely unaccountable to anyone, argues The Caravan . The RSS is not legally required to file annual returns to the Tax department or disclose its financial details publicly though it deals with thousands of crores of rupees every year especially after Modi became the Prime Minister of the country. The membership of the organisat...
12 comments
Read more