Pensacola MESS Hall celebrates Pi Day with what else? Pie! But it's adults only.

Troy Moon, Pensacola News Journal
·3 min read

OK, let's say you have a yummy apple pie 8 inches in diameter and a delicious pepperoni pizza pie that's 12 inches in diameter. What is the ratio of the pies' circumferences to their diameters?

Who cares? There's pie! (And yes, pi).

As every math nerd knows, March 14 is International Pi Day, a celebration of the mathematical constant that is the ratio of every circle's circumference to its diameter, which comes out always, no matter the size of the circle, to 3.1415926535 ... something, something, something ad nauseum. (Hey, I'm going off memory here. Cut me some slack. The current Guinness World Record for the person who knows the most pi digits is held by Lu Chao of China, who, in 2005, recited67,890 digits. That's a lot of pi!)

There's also going to be plenty of pie − and pi talk −at Pensacola MESS Hall's Pi Day Pie Tasting shindig at 6 p.m. on Pi Day. Yeah, the idea of celebrating pi seems irrational − that's a bad math joke − but it sounds like fun. Tickets are $31.42, which is approximately pi x 10.

The event is adults-only − wine will be served as well. The main reason for the grownup night at the Pensacola MESS Hall is to dispel the notion that the hands-on interactive science museum is just for kids. (If you're wondering, the MESS is for Math, Engineering, Science and Stuff.)

"Science is for everyone, not just kids," said Nicole Dickson, Pensacola MESS Hall outreach director as she guided us to a variety of demonstrations, games and challenges that test and teach science and logic.

There's an oscylinderscope, which features a guitar with a spinning drum attached. When a visitor plucks a string or multiple strings, they can't see the sound wave. But by spinning the drum, an observer can see the wave, its patterns, by using "persistence of vision." You might want to attend the event for the full scoop. There's plenty more, from trying to solve DaVinci's helicopter puzzle, magnetic displays and a few special activities related to pi and its applications.

Pensacola MESS Hall education director Sarabeth Gordon said the museum can "help you connect to your inner-child."

"It reminds yourself that you used to be so curious about things,'' she said. "You probably still are curious about things. There is always so much to learn. And you can have fun while you're learning."

This is the first year for the Pi Day Pie Tasting event, but the Pensacola MESS Hall, founded 10 years ago by Megan Pratt, has had other recent events tailored for adults, including murder mystery events, engineering and building events, and more.

The Pi Day event will feature pizza and dessert pies donated by:

  • Bubba’s 33

  • Conchita’s

  • Craft Bakery

  • East Hill Pizza

  • J’s Bakery

  • Lost Pizza

  • Papa Pizza

  • Short Fuze

For tickets and more information go to: https://pensacolamesshall.org/pi-day-2024/.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola MESS Hall inviting adults for pie day March 14