Pi in Barcelona

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Look in the upper left corner and you'll see that I'm standing at the Plaça del PI, in Barcelona, the town of the 3ECM 2000.
In medieval times there used to be a small chapel on this spot, outside the (Roman) walls of the city. The name Pi attributed to it (and for the square in front of it, much later) derives from the local word for Pine tree; Pinus in Latin. Nowadays there's still a fresh green pine on the Pi square, unaware of its mathematical root. Exactly 25 years ago I passed some time on Mallorca and likewise couldn't resist a visit to Cala Pi, a tiny blue bay, among the pine trees, to the south-east of Palma.

To the right a magic square at the (new) entrance of the temple of the Sagrada Familia. Its sum is 33, the presumed lifespan of Christ.

map of Barcelona
Sagrada Familia [and other monuments in Spain]

. the telecommunications tower, symbol of the 3ECM 2000, at the "Anella Olimpica"
. Information Service European Mathematical Society

. a petrified mammoth in the city park carrying a valuable load

. a Pi commercial

. a block of IMC Berlin98 stamps decorated with decimal expansions of Pi.

You might wish to read the poem on the number Pi by Wislawa Szymborska
[Dutch translation, p. 112-113 Rainbow Pocket 378, by Gerard Rasch]

email: A.A.Jagers Likewise "bread and wine" is "pa i vi" in Catalan.

Two quotes from chapter 5 & 94 of "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel:
"-I doubly underlined the first two letters of my given name-
Pi Patel
For good measure I added
Pi = 3.14
and I drew a large circle, which I then sliced in two with a diameter, two evoke that basic lesson of geometry"
"one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever"