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Jul 04 2005 7 Comments

Mathematastic

Recalling phone numbers I find almost impossible; and passwords invariably prove even more troublesome, meaning that losing my mobile would be nothing short of a disaster. Similarly, clearing out the cookies on my browser is simply not an option — regardless of the potential hidden embarrassments — as countless stored passwords would be lost, destined never to see the light of day again.

Such problems however will presumably never be a part of 59-year-old Akira Haraguchi’s life. As over the weekend the volunteer worker smashed his own pi recitation record. Starting around lunchtime on Friday, Haraguchi-san didn’t finish his mathematical marathon until early Saturday morning. Notching up an unbelievable (and surely unbeatable) 83,432 digits.

A feat so unfathomable it begs the question, how?

akira haraguchi pi

Plus, I guess, why?

Categorized: General

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bunny says

    7/5/2005 at 2:25 am

    1+1=3

    Reply
  2. Nacente says

    7/5/2005 at 5:26 am

    a+b= c
    after some elabortayion, you get
    5=4 where’s the error?

    Reply
  3. Makito says

    7/5/2005 at 11:47 am

    Bunny, I believe there is actually a mathematical proof in my University math course for that.

    Reply
  4. Henry says

    7/5/2005 at 12:23 pm

    if your boss asked you to identify the correct equation
    a) 1+1=2
    b) 1+1=3
    …which would you choose?

    it doesn’t matter, the boss is always right!

    Reply
  5. Nacente says

    7/6/2005 at 7:08 am

    Makito: Yes it is, simple one.

    Reply
  6. M0 says

    7/6/2005 at 11:23 pm

    3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510
    5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679
    8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128
    4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196
    4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091
    4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273
    7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436
    7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094
    3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548
    0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912
    9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798
    6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132
    0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872
    1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235
    4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960
    5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859
    5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881
    7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303
    5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778
    1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989

    And that’s only to 1000…

    Now imagine 83,432!

    Reply
  7. Rach says

    7/11/2005 at 7:33 pm

    Sheer madness. And that guy sure has a fantastic memory!

    Reply

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