Pi Cartoon

[Algot Runeman]

In case you have not seen it:

https://www.facebook.com/scifri/photos/a.78912008402.79126.10862798402/10151308469823403/?type=3

[jennifer kurtz]

Is there any math joke/meaning behind the name of counselor?  My kids asked if it was significant because it is in such a prominent spot in the comic. 

Thanks in advance.

Peace~ Jenn

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From: Algot Runeman <algot....@verizon.net>
To: "mathf...@googlegroups.com" <mathf...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2015 3:55 PM
Subject: [Math Future] Pi Cartoon

In case you have not seen it:

https://www.facebook.com/scifri/photos/a.78912008402.79126.10862798402/10151308469823403/?type=3

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[David Wees]

Try saying the name of the counsellor out loud slowly.

David

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[jennifer kurtz]

Thank you....I was so looking for something much more mathy and meaningful.  :-)  I am quite embarrassed that I didn't see that!

Peace~ Jenn

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From: 'David Wees' via MathFuture <mathf...@googlegroups.com>
To: "mathf...@googlegroups.com" <mathf...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2015 7:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Math Future] Pi Cartoon

[David Wees]

Don't be embarrassed! I've looked at that comic so many times AND just noticed tonight that the name is something funny when you drew my attention to it. :)

David

[kirby urner]

On Sun, Nov 29, 2015 at 12:55 PM, Algot Runeman <algot....@verizon.net> wrote:

In case you have not seen it:

https://www.facebook.com/scifri/photos/a.78912008402.79126.10862798402/10151308469823403/?type=3

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Pi seems to get so much more press than Phi, given both are irrational constants.  I wonder if any word frequency studies have been done on grade school textbooks regarding relative mention of Pi versus Phi.

Is it that the Golden Mean (so-called) is harder to explain?   Not as the ratio of a regular pentagon diagonal to any edge.  That's so like the circle : diameter explanation.  Pi and Phi could be introduced more in tandem.  But I don't usually seem them that way, in the textbooks.  Phi falls through the cracks.

What cartoon might we do about it? 

Maybe it traces to uncertainty about how to say it out loud.  Everyone knows to say Pi as in Pie.  But some say Fee and others Fie (i.e. Fy) for Phi.  I'm a Fie guy myself, rhymes with Pi (vs. Pee).

Kirby

[David Wees]

Everyone but the Greeks that is. They say Pi as in pee.

David

[kirby urner]

I most complicated topic!

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/11363/why-are-greek-letters-pronounced-incorrectly-in-scientific-english

Probably Pi and Phi, when introduced, should be framed with some talk about how phonemes shift over time. 

That's something a lot of writers tackle, but typically in the humanities.  A mathematics textbook has limited patience for such discussions.

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/george-bernard-shaw

Kirby