Celebrating Pi-Day: the Beauty of Mathematics

presenter – Matt Parker (UK)

moderator – Nikolay Vitanov (BG)

Sunday 14 March 2010

First event at GMT+4:

1130 to 1330 (Bulgarian time) with Armenia

Second event GMT+2:

Your browser may not support display of this image. 1400 to 1605 (Bulgarian time) with Turkey and Greece

Palaveev Room, British Council

Your browser may not support display of this image. The number Pi has obsessed people for thousands of years. During the third century BCE, Archimedes developed new methods to calculate Pi to five decimal places, starting a mathematical challenge which still continues today. In January 2010 a new record of 2.7 trillion digits was set using the latest computer algorithms. But why is the number Pi so interesting? Matt Parker will look at the history of Pi and explain why after millennia of technological advances, this one number is still so important to our modern way of life. He’ll also reveal why his birthday appears at the 30,560,847th decimal place of Pi.

Your browser may not support display of this image. Matt Parker is best described as a Stand-Up Mathematician who does everything in his power to make people excited about mathematics. Based in the Mathematics Department at Queen Mary, University of London he travels around the UK and internationally to talk about mathematics to both schools and general audiences. Matt also writes and presents for newspapers, online publications and film. He was voted winner of the Audience Award at the NESTA FameLab 2009 Final and was the support act for the 2009 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Around all this, he finds time to work as a stand-up comic in comedy clubs around London and the UK. Matt’s favourite number is currently 371.

Nikolay Vitanov is a senior science associate at the Mechanics Institute of the Bulgarian Science Academy (BSA). He has a PhD in Physics from the St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia, a PhD in natural sciences from the Bayreuth University in Germany and a PhD in mathematics from the Mechanics Institute of BSA.

Matt will be present live in Sofia but the event will link through videoconference to audiences in Armenia (1130 to 1330 Bulgarian time), and Ankara and Athens (1400 to 1600 Bulgarian time),
for a true celebration of mathematics.

This event is aimed mainly at young people age 15 to 18, and will be in English.

To book a place and enjoy the specially designed cake that we will offer, please write to booking@britishcouncil.bg and specify which of the two sessions you would like to attend.