Memory . . . Three Point One Four One Five Nine . . .
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0136
NOTE: The title of this File sounds best if sung to the tune of a certain song from the musical Cats.
I think I have mentioned on one or two occasions that I have memorized the value of pi to 14 decimal places. I think I'm going to try to memorize it to 32 decimal places. Why 32? Well, that is where you encounter the first zero in that infinite progression of digits.
I have impressed a number of people with how far I have memorized the value of pi. I think the person that gave me the biggest kick was the webmaster for Lost In Space actress Marta Kristen's website. When I rattled it off (not to mention a couple of mnemonic aids I had also memorized), he simply said, "I hand my geek crown over to you."
One person I probably would not impress, though, is 15-year-old Gaurav Rajav. Last month, he recited the value of pi to 8784 places. And he was a little disappointed by his effort -- he had hoped to recite it to 10,790 places.
If Rajav had made his goal, he would have set a new record in both the US and North America, according to the AP story I read. But what he remembered was enough to place him third among pi-reciters in the US and North America, and 12th in the world.
From what I can tell, the person most surprised by Rajav's pi-recitation was the math teacher who got him started. This teacher holds an annual recitation competition, and she expects her students to learn about 40 digits. (That's still a few more than my modest goal of 32.) During Rajav's first recitation, he recited close to 2990 digits. (This kid is seriously setting the bar higher for future students.)
Rajav is going to make another attempt for the North American record again in May. I'll be curious to see if he makes the record. I'm even curious to know what the world record is. Make that the current world record. I have a feeling that Rajav will not be content with merely holding the North American record for reciting pi.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0136
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0136A
ADDENDUM
I thought it would take longer, but I have extended my memorization of pi to 32 places. It happened during a couple of slow periods at work. I didn't even realize I had nailed it until a co-worker saw the sheet with the string of digits. When asked, I told her what it was and what I was doing. I then made my first attempt at reciting pi to 32 places, and to both my surprise and hers, I did it without a mistake.
My co-worker was impressed. When I gave a repeat performance with the team leader watching, she just gave me a stunned look, and asked why I would do it. I told her that it was a way to exercise my memory skills. She was even more stunned when I mentioned Rajav's recent recitation.
Incidentally, the value of pi to 32 places is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950, in case you were curious. Yes, I typed that from memory, but I also double-checked it with the sheet I was using as a reference guide.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0136A
NOTE: The title of this File sounds best if sung to the tune of a certain song from the musical Cats.
I think I have mentioned on one or two occasions that I have memorized the value of pi to 14 decimal places. I think I'm going to try to memorize it to 32 decimal places. Why 32? Well, that is where you encounter the first zero in that infinite progression of digits.
I have impressed a number of people with how far I have memorized the value of pi. I think the person that gave me the biggest kick was the webmaster for Lost In Space actress Marta Kristen's website. When I rattled it off (not to mention a couple of mnemonic aids I had also memorized), he simply said, "I hand my geek crown over to you."
One person I probably would not impress, though, is 15-year-old Gaurav Rajav. Last month, he recited the value of pi to 8784 places. And he was a little disappointed by his effort -- he had hoped to recite it to 10,790 places.
If Rajav had made his goal, he would have set a new record in both the US and North America, according to the AP story I read. But what he remembered was enough to place him third among pi-reciters in the US and North America, and 12th in the world.
From what I can tell, the person most surprised by Rajav's pi-recitation was the math teacher who got him started. This teacher holds an annual recitation competition, and she expects her students to learn about 40 digits. (That's still a few more than my modest goal of 32.) During Rajav's first recitation, he recited close to 2990 digits. (This kid is seriously setting the bar higher for future students.)
Rajav is going to make another attempt for the North American record again in May. I'll be curious to see if he makes the record. I'm even curious to know what the world record is. Make that the current world record. I have a feeling that Rajav will not be content with merely holding the North American record for reciting pi.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0136
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0136A
ADDENDUM
I thought it would take longer, but I have extended my memorization of pi to 32 places. It happened during a couple of slow periods at work. I didn't even realize I had nailed it until a co-worker saw the sheet with the string of digits. When asked, I told her what it was and what I was doing. I then made my first attempt at reciting pi to 32 places, and to both my surprise and hers, I did it without a mistake.
My co-worker was impressed. When I gave a repeat performance with the team leader watching, she just gave me a stunned look, and asked why I would do it. I told her that it was a way to exercise my memory skills. She was even more stunned when I mentioned Rajav's recent recitation.
Incidentally, the value of pi to 32 places is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950, in case you were curious. Yes, I typed that from memory, but I also double-checked it with the sheet I was using as a reference guide.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0136A