Mathematics is everywhere – Proclamation by UNESCO of March 14 as the International Day of Mathematics
To celebrate the beauty and importance of mathematics and its essential role in everyone’s life the International Mathematical Union (IMU) has led the project to have UNESCO proclaim March 14 as the International Day of Mathematics (IDM). Today, on November 26,2019, the 40th General Conference of UNESCO approved the Proclamation of March 14 (Pi Day) as the International Day of Mathematics.
March 14 is already known as Pi Day and celebrated in many countries around the world. It is named after the important number π, the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle and approximately equal to 3.14. The IDM celebration expands Pi Day to include the whole spectrum of mathematics.
Since March 14, 2020 is a Saturday the international official launch will take place on Friday March 13, 2020. There will be two parallel international launch events, the first one in Paris at the UNESCO Headquarters, and the second one as a plenary event inside the Next Einstein Forum 2020 (NEF2020 on March 10–13, 2020) in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mathematics has been an area of study throughout human history. Today, mathematics has developed into a tool so sophisticated that most people do not even notice its omnipresence in our lives. We can say that ‘Mathematics is everywhere’, which is the main theme of the first IDM 2020
Prof. Christiane Rousseau, University of Montreal, initiator for the IMU of the IDM project.
For the IDM, people all over the world are invited to celebrate. They will be challenged by creative activities, fascinated by intriguing public talks and engaged in surprising events. More than 75 countries and 150 organizations as mathematical societies, research institutes, museums, schools and universities are already announcing their celebrations, and a lot more are expected to follow.
The enthusiasm for this project is immense, especially on the African continent with many participating countries.
In my opinion, having an International Day of Mathematics is long overdue, I know that mathematics makes our lives easier because there is mathematics in everything.
Prof. Adewale Solarin, past-president of African Mathematical Union.
The IDM website is the main hub for the International Day of Mathematics, online at www.idm314.org.
It will host information material to be used by press and organizers (including logos and flyers in different languages) as well as proposals for activities related to the theme for everyone interested in hosting an event. All the official material provided through the website will be under an open license, which means it can be freely shared, translated and adapted.
Partners:
The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organization, with the purpose of promoting international cooperation in mathematics.
The IDM is communicated and supported by the IDM website, which is hosted by IMAGINARY, a non-profit organization to communicate modern mathematics. The website and the communication are financed by the Klaus Tschira Foundation, which supports natural sciences, mathematics and computer science in Germany.
(Press release available here.)