Pi (π) Day

Join the 35th annual celebration of our own homegrown holiday! March 14th (3/14) commemorates the irrational, transcendent, and never ending ratio that helps describe circles of all sizes. Watch resident artist John Sims (creator of the Pi Day Anthem) showcase his handmade Pi Quilt and perform spoken word poems with poets Kim Schuck and Sylvia Blalock and original music performed by Science Band. Explore math inspired activities and presentations, then join our pi parade and eat a free piece of pie. Come for the STEAM and stay for the slice! 

Pi (π) Day Livestream
Art + Science of Pi
With John Sims, Kim Shuck, Sylvia Blalock, and Science Band
12:00–1:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio
Free online event—join via Facebook or YouTube

No matter how you slice it, you don’t want to miss Pi (π) Day. Math artist John Sims will share some of his pi inspired visual art, poetry, and music. Poets Kim Shuck, and Sylvia Blalock will join in performing their own spoken word odes to pi. Jazz combo Science Band will perform John Sims’ latest composition, Pi Notes. Afterward, our expert educators Ron Hipschman and Lori Lamberston will share pi’s mathematical history and activities you can try at the museum and at home.

John Sims, a Detroit native, is a Sarasota based conceptual artist, writer, and activist who creates art and curatorial projects spanning the areas of installation, performance, text, music, film, and large-scale activism, informed by mathematics, design, the politics of white supremacy, sacred symbols/anniversaries, and poetic/political text.

Kim Shuck is a silly protein. Shuck is the seventh Poet Laureate of San Francisco Emerita, solo author of eight books, and a long time fan of whimsical numbers.

Sylvia Blalock is a San Francisco native and former Explainer under Darlene Librero and Frank Oppenheimer. She is the author of Uprising-A Book of Poetry and founder of Queendom Network LLC. Her latest project is "Voices That Carry: Being Loud on Purpose"

Math artist John Sims; an image of "Civil Pi," a quilt made by Sims as part of his project, SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto

Pi Day Musical Performance
With Science Band
2:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio

Groove with Science Band’s setlist as they pair pi trivia and science facts with a full jazz combo.

The Value of Pi
With the Facilitators
10:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. and 2:30–4:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Demo Station

Can you estimate the value of pi with string and scissors? Or by tossing pie pans? Can pi help determine the best deal when buying a pie or pizza pie? Explore these questions and more with our team of informal, museum educators.

Storytime Science for Kids: March Mathness
With Vivian Altmann
11:00 a.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Classroom 1606

Join us for a special math-inspired edition of Storytime Science! Enjoy a math-themed storybook read-aloud for children and their grown-ups. The Exploratorium's own Vivian Altmann will read The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat and Mo Willems. After the story, take math into the third dimension by crafting paper plate Bucky balls, greeting card boxes, and pinwheel shapes.

Pi (π) Day Celebration
With John Sims
Join for free online via Facebook or YouTube or at the Exploratorium
Noon–1:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio

No matter how you slice it, you don’t want to miss Pi (π) Day. Math artist John Sims will perform work from his music project 31415: The Pi Collection and showcase his Pi Quilt. Afterward, our expert educators share pi’s mathematical history and activities you can try at the museum and at home. 

Pi Procession
1:59 p.m.
Plaza

Grab your digit and get in line for the annual Pi Procession! A high-spirited crowd parades through the museum and circles the Pi Shrine 3.14 times, waving the digits of pi and singing a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” to Einstein. All participants will enjoy a free slice of pie following the parade.

What Is Pi (π) Day?

Founded in 1988 at the Exploratorium, Pi (π) Day has become an international holiday, celebrated live and online all around the world. The numbers in the date (3/14) match the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.

What is pi, anyway? Divide any circle’s circumference by its diameter; the answer (whether for a pie plate or a planet) is always approximately 3.14, a number we represent with the Greek letter π. Keep calculating pi’s digits with more and more accuracy—as mathematicians have been doing for 4,000 years—and you’ll discover they go on literally forever, with no pattern.