I found myself at loose ends recently, so I decided to read the Pi to 1,000,000 Places website. Oh, sure, laugh. It just so happens that it's very interesting to read. It's much more interesting to read than, say, Fahrenheit 911 would be, if Fahrenheit 911 were a book. For one thing, it's got 999,997 more numbers.
Like "Once upon a time," it starts out with that familiar, and oddly comforting 3.14159 that we all remember from geometry class:
3.141592653589793238462643383279502
88419716939937510582097494459230781
64062862089986280348253421170679821
48086513282306647093844609550582231
72535940812848111745028410270193852
And that's about as far as I ever got before. It's a crying shame, because with a bit of perseverence you soon come to this:
23055876317635187312514712053292114
81918261861258673215791984148488291
And this:
72291098169091528017350671274858322
28718352093539657251210835791513698
And this, which I think you, too, will find remarkable:
87004250325558992688434959287612400
75587569464137056251400117971331662
07153715436006876477318675587148783
98908107429530941060596944315847753
97009439883949144323536685392099468
Look at this part. Do you see how the underlying theme is just merrily percolating away?
33515030904453280525977956589205545
62434297982794134891756382400771612
17332473642854016061004433764145722
07859217155914010378320201321338330
96380778904095723810558829392796374
I kind of thought that things got a bit bogged down here:
99960777108192404340081740190904995
22416945936708415512633504468374235
40829126465380354941695384687191594
78644821690719718827904537417589786
56539635436417496421138332391272660
But the plot suddenly solidifies,
099523758782168987072283241554043785
949364881659710601941701117753081977
960061020610758095418438226377174415
893089344024548077635898598386460044
819130632918212125220072806340890562
and takes on a lyrical, enchanting quality:
994084161606242840630833289799716187
050576519624049243165999515189664975
475039001147398903189687832645578474
537251804522359726877668762428507538
166167924880008234090320348071465228
I laughed!
750667503948846636777214679211218536
122363167218880380661069859370237909
I wept!
292400768050958188888031319229966049
866511923553334427159951307690820852
I got some more popcorn!
662967740310259473022591776820132591
077731585784477312075886450933987756
187562030923121386657807216261161812
700375605344622634949838625256665242
Look at the parts I've highlighted here. Doesn't that just say it all?
487838380437533386005245983771521980
857484740911596560510126102135739087
072786751026934059525840044387691660
888998376929711576754644468668682258
216315938415334021845430200445567878
I'll just quote the ending in full.
936425013887117023275555779302266785
803199930810830576307652332050740013
939095807901637717629259283764874790
177274125678190555562180504876746991
140839977919376542320623374717324703
369763357925891515260315614033321272
849194418437150696552087542450598956
787961303311646283996346460422090106
105779458151
The End?
I don't think so. This thing is destined for a sequel. They'll probably call it something dumb, like Pi to 2,000,000 Places, but I don't care -- I just know that I can't wait to read it.