Pie aren’t squared

I was looking over client art the other day when I noticed the Greek letter pi being used where we normally have a circled-P (for publishing). So I pointed this out in email, and asked that the circle-P replace their use of pi. I got a call from the client about it, who explained to me that she didn’t understand what I was asking. She said that she didn’t see anything resembling a “P-I symbol” on her artwork. I told her it was the symbol for pi. She still didn’t understand what I was talking about.

I explained that pi, or π, is a symbol used in math to determine the circumference of a circle. She said she’s never taken chemistry. I start to wonder if my client is just messing with me or if perhaps she just wasn’t taught it in school. I figure even if you couldn’t remember what it was, you’d at least remember the word or symbol. If nothing else, any partying with fraternities and sororities in college would let you know parts of the Greek alphabet. I stopped trying to convince her and just used other ways to describe what needs fixed.

After the call I started wondering how common it is for people to not know what pi is. So I asked around the office and found that nearly everyone I talked to had no clue what I was talking about. I’d show them the symbol, still no clue. I’d explain it’s use, still no clue. So unless there’s some massive conspiracy today, or I’m still asleep, then it must have been rare that I was taught pi in Jr. High School. So this is also starting to make more sense why nobody understands why I call March 14th Pi Day.

I don’t think anyone I talked to knew that the most basic value of pi is 3.14, because we always had to round to two decimal places in school. After explaining this, I came up with a simple explanation for it:

If you bake a pie that’s 1 foot across, then you have 3.14 feet of crust.

I’m not sure how many people that helped, and how many it confused even more, but at least it’s a very simplified explanation of the value of pi. But if you’d rather hear a more detailed explanation of pi, perhaps you should listen to the song “Pi Pi Pi” by The Andy Ober Orchestra. You can listen to a pirated version of it here.