poem “Value of π”, a poem about the history and value of pi throughout the world written on the date that corresponds to the first 3 numbers of pi, how it was even talked about during the OJ Simpson trial and an approximation of it was used to land man on the moon, it is found in measurements of the great pyramid in Egypt, it is talked about (inaccurately) in the Holy Bible, and scientists throughout history have worked on and loved this number, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zircon, Gemstones, Baubles and Bling” (written on and for National Jewel Day), “Value of π” (written on and for Pi Day, 3/14), and “Vortexes Indenting our World” (written 3/15, the day after Albert Einstein’s birthday) live 3/16/19 at “Poetry Aloud” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zircon, Gemstones, Baubles and Bling” (written on and for National Jewel Day), “Value of π” (written on and for Pi Day, 3/14), and “Vortexes Indenting our World” (written 3/15, the day after Albert Einstein’s birthday) live 3/16/19 at “Poetry Aloud” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera, then given a Posterize filter).

video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zircon, Gemstones, Baubles and Bling” (written on and for National Jewel Day), “Value of π” (written on and for Pi Day, 3/14), and “Vortexes Indenting our World” (written 3/15, the day after Albert Einstein’s birthday) live 3/16/19 at “Poetry Aloud” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Zircon, Gemstones, Baubles and Bling” (written on and for National Jewel Day), “Value of π” (written on and for Pi Day, 3/14), and “Vortexes Indenting our World” (written 3/15, the day after Albert Einstein’s birthday) live 3/16/19 at “Poetry Aloud” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, then given a Sepia Tone filter).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Value of π” (written on 3/14, on & for π day) and “Eliminating the Endangered Species List” (written on 3/16, on & for National Panda Day), both read from her poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume one: January-June)”, then her prose poem “Exactly Where She Belonged (dreams 2/29/20)”, during the “Poetic License open mic 3/1/20”, while hosting “Poetic License” monthly at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; also posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Value of π” (written on 3/14, on & for π day) and “Eliminating the Endangered Species List” (written on 3/16, on & for National Panda Day), both read from her poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume one: January-June)”, then her prose poem “Exactly Where She Belonged (dreams 2/29/20)”, during the “Poetic License open mic 3/1/20”, while hosting “Poetic License” monthly at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (video from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; also posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of Pi”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny”, read from the v169 2/20 Down in the Dirt issue/book “Going Off-Grid”, live 3/4/20 in her March 2020 Book Release Reading through “Community Poetry” at Half Price Books in Austin (video from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of Pi”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny”, read from the v169 2/20 Down in the Dirt issue/book “Going Off-Grid”, live 3/4/20 in her March 2020 Book Release Reading through “Community Poetry” at Half Price Books in Austin (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See YouTube video from 4/26/20 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Quickly, Life Can Turn”, “Each Trigger Pull”, “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of π”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny” from the v169 “Going Off-Grid” of the Down in the Dirt February-Aril 2020 issue collection book “Founda tions” for “The 2020 #poetrybomb” (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See Facebook streaming video live from 4/26/20 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Quickly, Life Can Turn”, “Each Trigger Pull”, “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of π”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny” from the v169 “Going Off-Grid” of the the Down in the Dirt magazine February-Aril 2020 issue collection book “Founda tions” for “The 2020 #poetrybomb” (Samsung S9).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Vain”, “Know Completeness”, “Quickly, Life Can Turn”, “Each Trigger Pull”, “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of π”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny” from the v169 “Going Off-Grid” section of the Down in the Dirt 2-4 2020 collection book “Founda tions” for The Café Gallery 9/22/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Vain”, “Know Completeness”, “Quickly, Life Can Turn”, “Each Trigger Pull”, “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window”, “Value of π”, “Zeal was Unbridled”, and “Xenogeny” from the v169 “Going Off-Grid” section of the Down in the Dirt 2-4 2020 collection book “Founda tions” for The Café Gallery 9/22/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (streamed from a Samsung S9 camera).

Value of π
Janet Kuypers
3.14.159, i mean 3/14/19
Why is this number
with far too many decimal places
so important anyway? They say
the area of a circle is π r²,
but the Bible will tell you
that must mean that π is three.
No decimals. Just three,
based on the number of cubits
to make it around a circle.
(Actually, a rabbi later argued that
the Bible could be correct if in the Bible
they measured the inside of a pot
to define the circle, versus the outside.
What an ingenious way to work around
that biblical inconsistency...)
I don’t know if the number of decimal
digits is always that important,
because back in 1969, the number
three point one four one six
got man got the moon, without
all those extra decimal digits.
I mean, in the transcripts of the
famed OJ Simpson trial,
you can find arguments
between the judge and an FBI agent
about the actual value of π.
And speaking of the Simpson trial,
to quote Petr Beckmann in his
1970 book A History of π:
“Three centuries ago
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,
co-inventor of the calculus
and co-discoverer of the first
infinite series for π,
dreamt of the day when courts
would be abolished, because
disputes would be settled
mathematically by solving
impartial equations that would show
who was right and who was wrong.”
Beautiful idea, isn’t it,
using math to explain the Universe,
as physicists have been doing for years
(like Albert Einstein,
known for other equations,
who was born on 3.14 of 1879).
Apparently π is that much of a big deal
that you can find π in the measurements
of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
Yeah, the vertical height of the pyramid
and the perimeter of its base
have the same relationship the radius
of a circle has to its circumference.
And really, this π number (Archimedes’ constant)
which is the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet,
is such an irrational number, since it can’t
be defined as a fraction (and probably why
I’ll never remember enough of the numbers
in π in the first place, and why,
when astronauts didn’t have massive
computers or extensive calculators
in the 1960s that they settled for
three point one four one six for π).
Historically the number of π has been used
as early as 4,000 BC, and at each time
in history, from Egypt to China to India to
Persia, only an approximation was used.
Because this number of non-repeating
non-ordered numbers to infinity is
a number we have all wanted to understand
throughout history. I mean, people obsessed
with π can show you your birthdate in π
(http://www.facade.com/legacy/amiinpi/).
I don’t know, to some π may be a tasty
dessert treat. But when it comes to math,
everyone, for one reason or another,
is fascinated by this infinite series
because really, it amazes us
that one specifically weird number,
this one so transcendental number,
can mean so much to so many people
in so many ways throughout the world.

my hand to an anim of jkchair