Cutting pie is harder than slicing cake, at least if you want to do it fairly. Bizarre as that may sound, mathematicians have proven it.
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Julius B. Barbanel of Union College and political scientist Steven J. Brams of New York University have long studied the classical mathematical problem of cake cutting. The question is this: Suppose you have an elaborately decorated sheet cake, with chocolate icing here, vanilla icing there, a cherry in one spot, and coconut sprinkled about. Some people may prefer particular portions of the cake. How do you divide the cake so that everyone gets a fair slice? The researchers are now asking the same question about pies.