Never mind that little fella on the boat with the tiger, what about the pi we all remember (or don't) from school?
Doesn't he (she?) deserve a little glory too?
Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's novel is rightly receiving many plaudits since he has managed to "film the impossible", but the little squiggle with which the hero shares his name – and which looks like a mini typographic Stonehenge – is surely worthy of equal recognition. For a start, it's so useful! How many times have we pulled up at a roundabout and thought: "Hmmm. I wonder what the ratio of this circle's circumference is to its diameter?" Or: 'If only I knew the area of this roundabout my life would be so much happier.'
True, the sensible among us leave it at that. It's only a passionate few who put the handbrake on, get out of the car and approach the guy behind, waving cheerily and calling: "Have you got a tape measure?" They ignore you. "Sorry! [taps gently on window]: 'Have you got a tape measure? [gestures to roundabout and raises voice]. I WANT TO MEASURE HOW BIG THIS BABY IS!"
It's the same when you're taking the kids out and you're about to bite into a hamburger (the Geometric Meal Deal Special). Suddenly, you feel compelled to put it back on your plate and use a straw as a makeshift ruler. "Look boys!" you say, after you finish your calculations on the napkin. "Who wants to know the area of their burger? It's pi r squared, see, where r-" But they've moved tables.
One wonders how Christmas is around pi's gaff. Do all the shapes of geometry that we dimly remember turn up? Old Heptagon and Octagon (can never make that guy out – so many sides to him!), Rhombus and Quadrilateral, all of them sliding under the front door, then hitting the Cava hard and ending up completely isosceles. Rhombus must be getting on a bit now. He still looks good. If he lives to be 100, he'll get a parallelogram from the Queen (unless she's sitting in at the UN or the White House or the EC – she's impossible to get hold of these days).
No need to ask what's for Christmas lunch. The turkey's been ditched in favour of- pi-ella. Sorry, you saw that coming. Happy Christmas – and may the circumference of your own life enclose all good things.
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