Mathematics is the key to engineering—and weapons testing. Yuma Proving Ground celebrated the role of one mathematical component on March 14. Maya Springhawk Robnett got a taste of Pi Day…
The Pi Day celebration is a sort of potluck for attendees to share pie (the dessert, not the number.) French silk, banana cream, cheesecake, pizza, and even spaghetti pie lined the tables.
Three-point-one-four is the value of pi, or the ratio of the circumference to the Diameter of a Circle. Stefanie Jacobs (the Operations Research Analyst who organized the event at Yuma Proving Ground) explained that it’s important to celebrate pi because it highlights the necessity of mathematical accuracy.
“Pi’s been measured out to a trillion digits,” said Jacobs. “You need that tenths’, hundredths’, thousandths’ accuracy, especially for when we’re firing munitions here.”
YPG Commander Randy Murray said it’s also an important message to children to celebrate mathematics.
“Kids need to understand that math is in everything and every day of our lives,” Murray said, pie in hand. “I mean, everything we have, everything we make, everything we see pretty much there’s a mathematical component behind it. So that’s why I think kids need to understand that math can be fun.”
The first Pi Day celebration took place at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988. It was recognized as a National Event by Congress in 2009.
