European and British Record Holder

date : 14 March 2004
accuracy : 22,514
time : 5 hr 9 min 24 sec

Official post release :

15 March 2004

Pi in the Sky - new European Record set

Kent man Daniel Tammet has succeeded in his record-breaking attempt to set a new British and European record by using his incredible memory to recall the mathematical constant Pi (3.141..) to more than 22,500 decimal places.

Daniel shattered the record at Oxford's Museum of the History of Science yesterday (14 March), recalling 22,514 digits in just over five hours. Money raised through sponsorship of his record-breaking attempt will benefit the National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) - the UK's leading epilepsy charity.

The record-breaking bid was dubbed 'Pi in the Sky' by its brainchild Daniel, whose astonishing mental skills include the ability to 'see' numbers in his head. These abilities first emerged following epileptic seizures as a toddler. Daniel is one of only 25 documented 'savants' in the world according to eminent US psychiatrist Dr Darold Treffert who is the world's leading expert in Savant Syndrome and was a consultant to the movie Rain Man in which Dustin Hoffman plays an autistic savant.

David Josephs, director of external relations at NSE said: "This is a fantastic achievement. Daniel's success gives out a very positive message about epilepsy: the condition need not affect someone's ability to use their brain nor stop them aspiring to great achievements."

Log onto www.epilepsynse.org.uk to find out more about epilepsy and Daniel's challenge

Log onto www.justgiving.com/pi to sponsor Daniel's achievement*

Log onto www.pi-world-ranking-list.com for details of previous and World Records for recalling Pi

Media enquiries:
NSE Press Office - 01494 601417 / 404 / 401

*or write to Daniel C/o NSE, Chesham Lane, Chalfont St Peter, Bucks SL9 0RJ

Pi in the Sky, sponsored by SHL - the world leader in objective assessment, took place at the Museum of the History of Science on Broad Street in Oxford on 14 March 2004. The date coincides with both Pi Day and Einstein's birthday. The record was set in front of Einstein's blackboard.

Through his record-breaking achievement, Daniel aims to raise sponsorship for the National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) and is inviting people to sponsor him by writing c/o NSE or logging onto www.justgiving.com/pi

Daniel was part of a landmark research study on prodigious mental ability at London's Institute of Neurology. The summarized data, co-written by some of Britain's leading brain scientists, appeared in the New Year 2003 edition of the prestigious 'Nature' neuro-scientific magazine.

You can read more about Daniel at his business website. His company, Optimnem, provides educational courses in English, Maths, French, German and Spanish, teaching spatial learning strategies with a unique emphasis on contextual thinking.

http://www.optimnem.co.uk/index.htm