Program Manager's Message:

Happy March!  This month is special for a number of reasons, and I'm sure that most of you immediately thought of the second Tuesday (this year): March 14th, declared International Pi Day by our colleagues at the United Nations. There's a great deal of info online, including the link I put in the previous paragraph -- it's worth reading that page if for no other reason than to find out why Dr. Shetty fell in love with mathematics over its elegance and presence in repetition. The constant has a fascinating history, being "discovered" by the ancient Greeks and matched with its current symbol by Euler. More can be found here at the University of St. Andrews site.

There are quite a few famous birthdays in March! Most of us know that Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day, as is fitting for the very icon of intellectual prowess. Also born in March, though, was René Descartes, after whom our favorite (for most of us) coordinate system was named, on March 31. March 23rd is the birthday of Laplace, whose vector transformations haunted some of my postsecondary nights. Gerardus Mercator was born March 5, and Joseph Fourier was born March 21, as were so many others listed here at the Born Glorious site. 

Speaking of March 21, it's often fun to discuss the vernal equinox. Granted, the equinox this year is actually on March 20 -- a difference that may be fun to discuss with students. It's one of my favorite days of the year, personally, with the rate of change of daylight time at its highest point. The change in sunrise and sunset times is truly spectacular around then. That's a useful phenomenon, by the way, to use to discuss the difference between rates of change of daylight (highest at the equinox) and amounts of daylight (highest at the solstice). 

It's also, of course, the month most of you will be enjoying a lovely and restful (maybe?) Spring Break.

No matter what you enjoy March for, I hope you have a great one!

Stephen