Pi Day

Image Source: (2007) © G. J. Caulkins via A Taste of Maths.

Today, 3/14, commemorates the irrational number π (Hat tip: Necropolis). I know of no better film on the disconnected mysteries occupying the space between mathematics and numerology than the Darren Aronofsky film of the same name from 1998. In the film, a mathematician tries to use the number to unlock the secrets of the stock market - and God. It's a great movie about the dangers of trying to make this great infinite number, and all its endless connotations, finite, whether through financial market theories, mathematical analyses, or mystical explanations. A quote and clip are below the jump.

Video Source: Youtube.

To see the clip from the movie where the characters discuss the dialogue below, go here.

SOL: Listen to me. The Ancient Japanese considered the Go board to be a microcosm of the universe. Although when it is empty it appears to be simple and ordered, in fact, the possibilities of game play are endless. They say that no two Go games have ever been alike. Just like snowflakes. So, the Go board actually represents an extremely complex and chaotic universe. That is the truth of our world, Max. It can't be easily summed up with math. There is no simple pattern.

MAX: But as a Go game progresses, the possibilities become smaller and smaller. The board does take on order. Soon, all moves are predictable.

SOL: So?

MAX: So, maybe, even though we're not sophisticated enough to be aware of it, there is an underlying order... a pattern, beneath every Go game. Maybe that pattern is like the pattern in the market, in the Torah. The two sixteen number.