From puzzles to brain teasers, from board games to video games, this year mathematics becomes a game on the occasion of Pi Greco Day, dedicated to one of the most famous mathematical constants in history.
It is celebrated on March 14, the date that corresponds to the first three digits of Pi, and since 2020 it has become part of the International Mathematics Day, organized by the International Mathematical Union.
Every year a different theme is chosen to stimulate creativity and highlight the connections between mathematics and the world around us: for 2024 the focus is on games, with many events scheduled in Italy and around the world.
"This year the basic idea is that of the game, but in mathematics it can take on many other meanings, just think of game theory (a discipline developed in the 1950s and which has applications in the social sciences, logic and computer science )", Roberto Natalini, director of the Institute for Computing Applications of the National Research Council and coordinator of the editorial committee of the dissemination site MaddMaths!, tells ANSA.
"It is a pretext to talk about mathematics in a fun and engaging way - adds Natalini - far from the stereotypes that often accompany it".
There are many events planned throughout the week, starting with the interactive competition open to all organized by Umi: a challenge that aims to recognize mathematics in our daily lives and immortalize it in a snapshot, with the most beautiful images that will be published on the site.
"Last year Italy stood out as the country with the highest participation - comments Natalini - we'll see how it goes this year".
NASA also joins the celebrations, proposing a challenge to solve some of the problems encountered by researchers and engineers committed to designing missions for the exploration of other planets and the cosmos, from the James Webb space telescope (of NASA, the European Space Agency and Canadian) to the Dart planetary defense mission.
There is no shortage of initiatives in Italy too.
On March 16, the Dopolavoro matematico organized thematic workshops aimed at all age groups in three different cities, Rome, Florence and Bologna, to approach complex mathematical concepts while having fun.
The University of Pavia, however, is dedicating this edition to board games based on a calculation mechanism: there will be memory challenges, chess tournaments and thematic stations for the various games, from Rubik's cube (which this year turns 50) to Monopoly, from Scrabble to Sudoku.
The University of Milan will invite participants to carry out the Buffon needle experiment, a fascinating method of approximating the value of pi which consists in randomly throwing elongated objects onto a plane divided into strips: the value of a mathematical constant is then obtained starting from the probability of intersection between the objects and the lines.
Passers-by will then be able to throw wooden sticks onto a specially prepared striped section of the floor.
Finally, the University of Bari organized a mathematically themed speech competition lasting a maximum of 3 minutes and 14 seconds, the first digits of Pi.
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