Pi Day, 3.141592... (March 14, 2007)

There aren't too many mathematical holidays, but March 14 is Pi Day. Bracken Library has lots of videos, software, pictures (including posters of multicultural geometry that range from ancient Egyptian methods of computing the area of a circle to patterns in American patchwork quilts), activity and flash cards, and teaching aids to help you brush up on your geometry. Or, to help a younger friend conquer math, use the Software & Electronic Games Media Finder to find math-related educational software for kids (choose children under audience and check math under selected subjects)

Personally, I like my pie sweeter and more concrete than the pi I dimly remember from math class. Although they won't satisfy your sweet tooth, the library does have pictures and plastic food models of pies. Use the Mega Media Finder and select food models under specific materials to find all of our food models, which are useful for teaching about nutrition and portion sizes.

From the Movies & TV Programs (fiction video) Media Finder, try Pi, Darren Aronofsky's bizarre movie about a mathematician flirting with insanity in his quest for the mathematical secret to the universe (or at least the stock market). You could follow this up with the intriguingly-titled video Is God a Number?: Maths That Mimic the Mind. Or, for another type of pie entirely, you may prefer to check out the American Pie movies.