Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Today is 9/16/25. HAPPY TRIPLE SQUARE ROOT DAY!

 

This is what's called a "palate cleanser" -- changing the subject to something pleasant and away from the toxicity of social media around the beatification of a certain right-wing activist.

My son was a math major and the late Mr. Shaw Kenawe was a physics major at MIT.

This is dedicated to them and for all you Pythagorean groupies and math nerds:

Enjoy!




On 9/16/25, celebrate a date of mathematical beauty 

Once a century, a very special day comes along. 

That day is today — 9/16/25. 

 Pi Day (3/14) often comes with sweet treats; 

Square Root Day (4/4/16 or 5/5/25, for example) has a certain numerical rhyme. 

But the particular string of numbers in today's date may be especially delightful to the brains of mathematicians and the casual nerds among us. 

 First, "all three of the entries in that date are perfect squares — and what I mean by that is 9 is equal to 3 squared, 16 is equal to 4 squared, and 25 is equal to 5 squared," says Colin Adams, a mathematician at Williams College who was first tipped off about today's special qualities during a meeting with his former student, Jake Malarkey. Next, those perfect squares come from consecutive numbers — three, four, and five. But perhaps most special of all is that three, four, and five are an example of what's called a Pythagorean triple.


Read the rest HERE.

3 comments:

Dave Miller said...

Not just mathematicians... building contractors know the key to squaring a room or a project lies in the beauty of the 3-4-5 angle. I never thought I'd come to love and use that reality on so many projects, back when I was in high school geometry.

I daily told Mr O'Neill I'd never need this stuff, I'm going to be a pastor. And daily he would tell me, "Dave, you never know, one day you might need this!"

How right he was.

For another view, especially all you pool sharks, check out Donald in Mathmagic Land.





https://youtu.be/8BqnN72OlqA?si=ph5PtSCyimQN-0MK

BB-Idaho said...

If it is good enough for Pythagoras it is good enough for me.
Does one celebrate at the bar with three triple sec and vodkas on the rocks?

Shaw Kenawe said...

In my younger days, I could do that. Now, a half glass of red wine sends me to slumberland! Happy Triple Square Root Day to you!