On Wednesday (December 22), India celebrates the birthday of the well-known and one of the legends known in the field of mathematics, Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar. The National Mathematics Day or simply, maths day, is celebrated around India Today and this day is dedicated to Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birthday.
Ramanujan was a well-known and very much respected Indian mathematician who was not even given formal training in advanced mathematical concepts. But despite this, his interest in the field of maths never stopped him from exploring more on this topic and as a result, he mastered trigonometry just at the age of 12! It didn’t stop here as Srinivasa Ramanujan went on in order to make some of the great contributions to mathematical concepts. Some of his well-known concepts, which are apparently known to all, are the number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.
On the occasion of his birthday, let’s have a small look into his life:
Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in Tamil Nadu’s Erode. At the young age of 14, Ramanujan had enrolled in Madras’ Pachaiyappa College.
In 1912, while Ramanujan was working at Madras Port Trust, his prowess and his amazing talent and interest in maths were recognized by some of his co-workers. One of the co-workers referred Ramanujan to professor GH Hardy, a professor of Trinity College, Cambridge University. Ramanujan met Hardy in 1913. Just after a year, he went to Trinity College where he also honed his craft under the Englishman’s tutelage.
He received his degree from Cambridge University in 1916. After receiving a degree, Ramanujan went on to publish several of his amazing and detailed papers on his subject. While preparing his papers on this particular topic, he also took Hardy’s help.
Last year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ wrote a piece in Hindustan Times. In that, he specified Ramanujan and which he called Ramanujan the “epitome of mathematical excellence”.
Here’s the history of National Mathematics Day
In 2012, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had declared December 22 to be celebrated as National Mathematics Day, as he paid tribute to Ramanujan in Chennai, and since then, the day is celebrated as National Mathematics Day every year.
How does India celebrate National Mathematics Day?
In India, National Mathematics Day is celebrated in various schools, colleges, universities, and educational institutions. The International Society UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and India made an agreement to work together to spread mathematics learning and understanding. Many initiatives were taken to educate the students in mathematics and spread knowledge to the students and learners all over the world and NASI (The National Academy of Science India), the oldest science academy situated in Allahabad conducts a workshop in applications of Mathematics and Ramanujan. This workshop is attended by popular lecturers and experts in the field of mathematics from across the nation and speakers at the country and world level discuss Srinivasa Ramanujan’s contribution to mathematics.
Ramanujan’s influence on popular culture:
The mathematician has surely fascinated the world with his theorems and other achievements. His amazing theorems just at a very young age had never failed to impress everyone. The mathematician has done exceptionally well in every theorem and this is only of everyone with his amazing talent.
Ramanujan was so cherished by everyone that the life of this exceptionally gifted mathematician was portrayed by British-Indian actor Dev Patel in the 2015 film. The film is titled The Man Who Knew Infinity, and the plot of the movie explores the beautiful friendship between Ramanujan and Hardy. This movie also portrayed and shed light on his childhood in India.
Ramanujan died at the young age of 32 owing to deteriorating health on April 26, 1920.
