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The number pi is probably the most well-known mathematical constant. At the same time, it is a portal to much of the beauty and elegance of mathematics. How mysterious it first seems that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of every circle is pi, that the digits of pi appear with no apparent pattern, or that computer scientists spend enormous amounts of time and energy in never-ending quests to produce the longest list of digits of pi.

Here, the focus is on the search throughout history to compute pi as efficiently as possible. This search takes us from ancient Egypt all the way up to present-day attempts to compute billions of digits with the fastest algorithms possible.