Editor's Note: This article originally ran on Pi Day 2012.
Today is March 14, also known as 3.14, also known as Pi Day. Geeks around the world will unite today to celebrate one of the most fascinating and beautiful constants in all of mathematics. I've made a video to celebrate this special day with each and every one of you! So please take a moment to watch, share, and raise a glass to pi!
Also, see the full music video or download the MP3 for Hard 'N Phirm's song Pi, which happens to have a running time of 3:14 and was graciously provided for use in the video above. Happy Pi Day, everyone!
CARA SANTA MARIA: Happy Pi Day, everybody! I'm Cara Santa Maria.
DANIEL TAMMET: Pi is one of the most beautiful things in all the world, and if I can share that joy in numbers--if I can share that in some small measure with the world, through my writing and through my speaking, then I feel that I will have done something useful.
CSM: This man recited pi from memory to 22,514 digits. His name is Daniel Tammet, and he has a special gift that very few people possess.
DT: I experience numbers in a very visual way using colors, texture, shape and form, sequences of numbers, form, landscapes in my mind.
CSM: As we all know, pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It's an irrational number, meaning that it can't be written as a simple fraction. And what makes Daniel Tammet's feat so incredible is that there's no known algorithm for determining its numerical pattern. Pi goes on forever in an essentially random sequence. Daniel says that "Like the Mona Lisa or a Mozart symphony, pi is its own reason for loving it." Recently, pi was calculated to 10 trillion digits in a feat that took a specialized computer over a year to complete. In my opinion, all of this is cause for celebration. So from talk nerdy to me, Happy Pi Day everyone!
DT: Yes, Pi Day.
DAVID LETTERMAN: I love pie.
See all Talk Nerdy to Me posts: www.huffingtonpost.com/news/talk-nerdy-to-me
Like Cara Santa Maria on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Cara-Santa-Maria
Follow Cara Santa Maria on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CaraSantaMaria
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