Niles-Joyal: “I grew a number, and I was able to remember it in the morning. It was 39 digits long.” Photograph: Lee Pellegrini

The 1,000th decimal place of pi is 9. Ask James Niles-Joyal ’08. He has memorized pi to the 10,500th digit. “People like doing things they’re good at,” he says. “If this were singing, I’d be on American Idol. But I’m memorizing digits.”

A quick refresher: Pi (which dates back to the second century b.c. in Greece) is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. While the number is typically abbreviated to a few decimal places (usually to 3.14) in everyday math, pi has been computed electronically to more than a trillion decimal places, with no discernible pattern to the seemingly infinite string of digits. The aura of such a mathematically important number, combined with the challenge of its unending randomness, makes pi the grand pursuit of those seeking to test the capacity of human memory. It’s a competitive sport.

Pi memorizers form an international community through websites such as pi-world-ranking-list.com, the authority for world, continental, and country-by-country pi records, and coconutcreampi.com (a how-to site). But pi is not the only game in town. The England-based World Memory Sports Council has, since 1991, attempted to create standard disciplines for what it calls “mental athletes.” Its World Memory Championships include sprints (a deck of cards) and distance events like “names and faces.” Bible competitions take place in the United States and Israel, while Muslims participate in Koran-memorization contests in Dubai and Gaza during Ramadan.

Niles-Joyal, a music major, made his rookie public foray into this competitive world at the Pi Day celebration on March 14 at Harvard University. He endeavored to recite pi to an eponymous 3,141 decimal places, but tripped up at the 612th digit. According to Niles-Joyal, his first thought was, “Oh man, I lost at Harvard.” But an account in the Harvard Crimson drew attention to his effort from BC students, and he now says, “Apparently it’s the best thing I’ve done [since I’ve been] at BC.”

Niles-Joyal’s journey with pi began last fall, in the middle of one long night. He remembers vividly: “September 25, I was having trouble going to sleep, and I just started making up a number in my head. I’d say ‘5,’ then ‘5, 3,’ then ‘5, 3, 4.’ I grew a number, and I was able to remember it in the morning. It was 39 digits long.” Vaguely aware of competitive pi memorization, Niles-Joyal decided to give it a try.

Although he professes no passion for math, Niles-Joyal says he has always had an affinity for patterns and relationships. He memorizes pi’s digits in blocks of 150 to 200, working from a Word document copied from one of the dozens of websites that list pi to millions of decimal places. First, he takes about a half hour to scan a sequence of roughly that length, searching for patterns and idiosyncrasies. One group, for instance, may appear to have a “white glow,” while another will somehow remind him of a certain object or emotion. After identification of these markers comes a half hour of memorization. “For me, when I’m at a place where I’m comfortable, [pi] is no longer random,” he says.

At 10,500 digits, Niles-Joyal is far from the Guinness-recognized record for pi memorization, held by Chao Lu, a Chinese student who recited 67,890 digits in 2005. (A mental health counselor in Japan claims to have recited 100,000 digits last fall, but has yet to submit the proper documentation to Guinness.) Within reach is the North American record held by Marc Umile, a Medicare biller from Phila­del­phia, who typed pi to 12,887 digits on a spreadsheet before witnesses at a law office last December. Niles-Joyal plans to make a run at the record by the end of the summer, using two teachers from his high school in central Massachusetts as witnesses. His goal, unsurprisingly, is 13,141 digits.

Niles-Joyal composes music, is working on a screenplay, and has tried his hand at stand-up comedy at “BC Stands Up,” the annual showcase of student comedians. Thoughtful and soft-spoken, he considers pi to be a humble piece of his larger quest to become a “true Renaissance man.”

“I like to use that term,” he says, “because it’s about not having limits.”

Read more by Tim Czerwienski