Pi Day

Some math-minded folks refer to today, 3/14, as Pi Day because 3.14 is the approximate value of π, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. In other words, if you could lift a diameter out of a circle, bend it to match the curvature of that circle, then lay it back down onto the circle, it would take about 3.14 such curved segments to go completely around. π is what mathematicians call a transcendental number; one consequence is that we can’t express its exact value with a terminating decimal or even a repeating decimal (as, for example, 1/8 = exactly 0.125 and 1/11 = 0.09090909…).

What’s all that got to do with this opening four-nerve daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa) that I photographed in my neighborhood four days ago? Well, 4 is a number, right? And you’ve gotta admit that the sunny yellow flower head does a good job of suggesting a circle.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman