India celebrates National Mathematics Day on 22 December, the birth anniversary of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. This day was started in 2012 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in honor of Ramanujan’s remarkable contribution to mathematics.
Apart from remembering Sri Ramanujan, National Mathematics Day also honors the importance of mathematics in our daily lives. Mathematics is necessary for everything from basic activities like transactions to complex scientific problems.The day also reminds us of how mathematics develops technology, solves real-world issues and enhances society.
Here are some interesting facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan’s life and career:
- On December 22, 1887, Srinivasa Ramanujan was born into a Brahmin Iyengar family in Erode, Tamil Nadu. At an early age, he had an interest in mathematics, and by the time he was twelve, he had mastered trigonometry. After that, he qualified for a scholarship at Kumbakonam’s Government Arts College.
- Because he disliked non-mathematical topics, Ramanujan struggled academically at the Government College in Kumbakonam.
- In 1912, he worked as a clerk at the Madras Port Trust, where his mathematical talent caught the attention of colleagues. One referred him to Professor G.H. Hardy at Trinity College, Cambridge. He met Hardy in 1913 and moved to the college.
- Ramanujan graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 1916. He published a number of papers on his subject with Hardy’s help. Additionally, the two worked together on a number of projects.
- The London Mathematical Society elected Ramanujan in 1917. Because of his contributions to number theory and elliptic functions, he was elected to the esteemed Royal Society the following year. As Trinity College’s first Indian Fellow, he also created history.
- Due to his deteriorating health, Ramanujan went to India in 1919 and passed away on April 26 of the next year. He was just 32 years old.
- An example of Ramanujan’s genius is taken from Robert Kanigel’s biography, “The Man Who Knew Infinity.” Hardy travelled in a taxi cab numbered 1729 to visit a sick Ramanujan. During their conversation, Hardy mentioned that it appeared to be a fairly ordinary number. Ramanujan pointed out that it is the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different ways (1729=1^3+12^3=9^3+10^3). Although it might not be his most significant contribution, it is undoubtedly among the most memorable.
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