NEW DELHI: To celebrate the birth anniversary of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, December 22 is observed as the National Mathematics Day. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series.
On 26 December 2011, former prime minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 to be National Mathematics Day at the Madras University on the 125th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan. Singh also announced 2012 to be celebrated as the National Mathematics Year. Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in Tamil Nadu’s Erode to a Brahmin Iyengar family. He initially developed his own mathematical research in isolation. Ramanujan started working as a clerk in the Madras Port Trust in 1912.
His love for mathematics did not cease. He even contributed to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable. Seeking recognition, his work was referred to Professor GH Hardy, who helped him to travel to Cambridge. Ramanujan received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1916. Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3,900 results, of which many were completely novel. His original and highly unconventional results, such as the Ramanujan prime, the Ramanujan theta function, partition formulae and mock theta functions, have opened entire new areas of work and inspired a vast amount of further research. On this occasion, the ministry of railways said, “On National #MathematicsDay, Railways commemorates the genius mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan on his birth anniversary for his pioneering discoveries & numerous contributions in the field.”
Courtesy : NewsCareers360
