Math Club Members Honor Pi and Eat It, Too

What is “transcendental, irrational, and delicious?”

Pi, according to the Harvard Math Club.

On Friday, March 14, the group sponsored its third annual day of celebrations in honor of the omnipresent mathematical ratio, often approximated as 3.14.

The day began with a public calculation of pi at 10 a.m. in front of the Science Center, followed by a pi recitation contest and a pie-eating contest later in the afternoon.

During the public calculation, the group handed out flyers about pi to curious passers-by.

Math Club Social Chair James A. Fowler ’03 created the flyer, which detailed various facts about pi, including the mathematical logic behind the ratio’s “irrational” and “transcendental” nature.

Fowler said his efforts to promote pi were successful.

“People were pretty happy receiving information about Pi Day,” he said.

Leila A. Strachan ’04 won the pi-recitation contest, naming 208 digits—nearly three times what her closest competitors could recall.

Fowler said beyond “the people’s ovation and fame forever,” a material prize is yet to be determined for the day’s contests.

But Strachan said an intangible reward was more than enough.

“I like to think that my prize was the glowing admiration of some math department guys who have no idea that I don’t even really know what pi is,” Strachan wrote in an e-mail.

Strachan, who said she already knew more than 100 digits of pi before this year’s contest, cited a “long-standing blood-feud” with Aaron M. Tievsky ’03, last year’s winner, as her primary motivation for competing.

Strachan noted that Tievsky did not attend this year’s showdown, “probably out of fear.”

The Pi Day revelry culminated at 3:14 p.m. when about 13 students scrambled to consume pounds of pastry in a pie-eating contest. Math Club members weighed the pies before and after consumption to ensure the greatest possible accuracy when determining the contest’s results.

A proposal to weigh the contestants before and after eating was dismissed by the members. Contest officials concluded that “much larger amounts of pie were eaten this year than last year,” Fowler said.

In the end, Johnathan N. K. Francis ’04 prevailed, eating over two and a half pounds of pie.

Fowler noted Francis’ particularly effective strategy for winning.

“Francis seemed to shovel it with his mouth,” said Fowler.

Others used different means in an attempt to surpass their competitors.

One contestant used a knife and fork, while another picked up his pie and tried to eat it like a sandwich. Another even removed his shirt in preparation for the competition.

Though this year’s celebration was the club’s third annual recognition of Pi Day, Fowler said next year’s celebration may be in jeopardy, since March 14 will fall on a Sunday.