National Mathematics Day 2020: Celebrating S. Ramanujan’ birthday and his contributions to Maths

 

National Mathematics Day is celebrated to honour the S. Ramanujan, the great Indian Mathematician. Here are some interesting facts about the man and his contributions to maths.

National Mathematics Day is celebrated each year in India on December 22, 2020 to mark the birth anniversary of legendary Indian mathematician – Srinivasa Ramanujan. Born in Erode in 1887, S. Ramanujan went on to become a world renowned mathematician. His life was an awe inspiring journey that not only unravelled many mathematical principals but placed him squarely among the greatest minds of all times.

There are many anecdotes and contributions of the young genius that are often quoted. And yet, the most remarkable fact about Ramanujan was that he failed in all other subjects barring mathematics. Also, interestingly, as a student he would only attempt those mathematical questions that intrigued him and left the ‘rather easy’ ones. Here’s a look at his many contributions to maths and few other interesting facts about the man himself.

Srinivasa Rmanujan – Interesting Facts, Contributions & more

1. S. Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887 in a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family in Erode. Though his mother, a housewife, had three other children later, none of them survived even till their first birthday.
2. Ramanujan went to local school and was recognized as a child prodigy in mathematics by the age of 11.By that age, he could do advance mathematics taught at college level. It was at that age that he was introduced to trigonometry and by age 13 he was a master in the subject.
3. As a student, he would help his school assign 1200 teachers to 35 teachers as per their specific needs and requirements.
4. He graduated from Town Higher Secondary School in 1904 and was awarded the K. Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics by the school's headmaster, Krishnaswami Iyer. He even got a scholarship to study at Government’s Arts College Kumbakonam. However, not interested in any other subject, he failed to score minimum passing marks and lost his scholarship.
5. Following the same, he enrolled at Pachaiyappa's College in Madras, now Chennai but failed his Fellow in Arts in 1906 and then in 1907 as he could not be inclined to study any other subject and even in mathematics he only chose to do ‘challenging’ questions.
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7. Ramanujan got the recognition again in 1910 after he met the founder of the Indian Mathematical Society, V. Ramaswamy Aiyer and slowly gained repute in the mathematical circles. His remarkable work won him a position of research at the University of Madras.
8. He wrote to many English Mathematicians but his work was often disregarded for it lacked ‘formal’ presentation and flair. Before he was ‘found’ by G.H. Hardy, his work was returned by two professors of the Cambridge University, unread.
9. He first refused to leave India for England but later agreed. For most part, he claimed that he got the genius from divinity and that is where he got his answers.
10. He compiled as many as 3900 results and identitites in his lifetime.
11. Among the most important contributions were to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. His work on Ramanujan prime, the Ramanujan theta function, partition formulae and mock theta functions continue to open new areas of research.
12. Among the most famous are Ramanujan Number- also called the magic number which is 1729. It is the smallest number that can be expressed as a sum of cubes of two different sets of numbers. Ramajuna Square is another mathematical puzzle that enthrals all.
13. The great mathematician, however, was riddled with ill health all his life. The condition was often exacerbated due to poverty and his strict dietary restrictions that he followed as part of his religious beliefs.

The world lost the great mathematician at a young age of 32 in 1920. To honour his contribution to mathematics and to celebrate his remarkable genius, the day is celebrated as National Mathematics Day. The purpose is to instil among students the love for the subject.

Source:https://www.timesnownews.com/education/article/national-mathematics-day-2020-celebrating-s-ramanujan-birthday-and-his-contributions-to-maths/697481?fbclid=IwAR2zCvGFCcqlhJM_HkIiq2GLzXhTfMz3oIH1NB4ETkt7ge_LO-Fe0HNTuXE