24.7.12

Pi acknowledgement

In Sandra Kring's novel "Thank You for All Things" (amazon.com link), one of the characters is an autistic child who memorizes pi and is close to the world record. Here's an excerpt about one of his practice sessions:
As I pass Milo’s door—eight hours after he began—he’s resetting his timer.  He sees me and calls out, “I’m just starting position 48,551,” he says.  “I’m averaging 6000 digits per hour.  Right up there with the current record holders,” He sets the timer down and starts, “three, seven, two, five, four—I really like that part!—eight, two, five….”  The sounds of Grandpa Sam’s rutted breaths and rattling bed bars are filling every corner of the house.  Milo hears them too, of course, and I can tell by his eyes that he’s grappling hard to see the digits, rather than to see Grandpa struggling to breathe.  I feel sorry for him, so I say, “Good job. Catch you later.”  
 The part he likes, 3 7 2 5 4, is my name in sound numerals. A cool 'secret reference'.

Find out more about sound numerals here: http://folk.ntnu.no/krill/home.htm

1 comment:

  1. I loved this. When I read it in the book I knew it was you. your Mom.

    ReplyDelete