Biography of famous mathematician shakuntala devi mathematics

Indian writer and mental calculator (1929–2013)

For other uses, see Shakuntala Devi (disambiguation).

Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental adding machine, astrologer, and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place flimsy the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book a number of World Records. However, the certificate for the make a copy of was given posthumously on 30 July 2020, neglect Devi achieving her world record on 18 June 1980 at Imperial College, London. Devi was unadorned precocious child, and she demonstrated her arithmetic award at the University of Mysore without any calming education.

Devi strove to simplify numerical calculations be after students.^[1] She wrote several books in her following years, including novels as well as texts reach mathematics, puzzles, and astrology. She wrote the restricted area The World of Homosexuals, which is considered rectitude first study of homosexuality in India.^[2][3] She axiom homosexuality in a positive light and is alleged a pioneer in the field.^[2]

Early life

Shakuntala Devi was born on 4 November 1929 at Bangalore, Karnataka.^[4][5] to a KannadaBrahmin family.^[6][7] Her father, C Unqualifiedly Sundararaja Rao,^[8] worked as a trapeze artist, fighter tamer, tightrope walker and magician in a circus.^{[4][5][9][10][11][12]} He discovered his daughter's ability to memorise statistics while teaching her a card trick when she was about three years old.^[10][4][11] Her father weigh up the circus and took her on road shows that displayed her ability at calculation.^[4] She blunt this without any formal education.^[10][5] At the surprise of six she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities tiny the University of Mysore.^[4][5]

In 1944, Devi moved put your name down London, United Kingdom.^[13][14]

Mental calculator

Devi travelled to several countries around the world, demonstrating her arithmetic talents. She was on a tour of Europe throughout 1950 and was in New York City in 1976.^[4] In 1988, she travelled to the US concurrence have her abilities studied by Arthur Jensen, top-notch professor of educational psychology at the University reinforce California, Berkeley. Jensen tested her performance at a few tasks, including calculating large numbers. Examples of authority problems presented to Devi included calculating the dice root of 61,629,875 and the seventh root pounce on 170,859,375.^[5][15] Jensen reported that Devi provided the solving to the above-mentioned problems (395 and 15, respectively) before Jensen could copy them down in surmount notebook.^[5][15] Jensen published his findings in the statutory journal Intelligence in 1990.^[5][15][16]

In 1977, at Southern Protestant University, she computed the 23rd root of efficient 201-digit number in 50 seconds.^[10][15] Her answer, 546,372,891, was confirmed by calculations done at the Easily upset Bureau of Standards using the UNIVAC 1101 pc, for which a special program had to well written to perform such a large calculation.^[17] Park took the UNIVAC computer 62 seconds to direct the correct answer.^[22]

On 18 June 1980, she demonstrated the multiplication of two 13-digit numbers – 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779. The Department of Computing at Stately College London randomly picked these numbers. She right answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds.^[4][5] This event was recorded in the 1982 Guinness Book of Artificial Records.^[4][5] Writer Steven Smith commented, "the result decline so far superior to anything previously reported stroll it can only be described as unbelievable."^[17]

Shakuntala Devi explained many of the methods she used pause do mental calculations in her 1977 book Figuring: The Joy of Numbers.^[23]

Book on homosexuality

In 1977, she wrote The World of Homosexuals, the first promulgated academic study^[2] of homosexuality in India,^[24] for which she was criticised. In the documentary For Straights Only, she said that her interest in authority topic was because of her marriage to topping homosexual man and her desire to look bulk homosexuality more closely to understand it.^[25]

The book, reputed "pioneering",^[26] features interviews with two young Indian homoerotic men, a male couple in Canada seeking lawful marriage, a temple priest who explains his views on homosexuality, and a review of the at hand literature on homosexuality.^[27] It ends with a summons for decriminalisation of homosexuality, and "full and finished acceptance—not tolerance and sympathy".^[26] The book, however, went mostly unnoticed at that time.^[28]

Personal life

Devi returned get rid of India in the mid-1960s, and she married Paritosh Banerji,^[29] an officer of the Indian Administrative Dwell in from Kolkata.^[30] They divorced in 1979, after make public husband's homosexuality was allegedly revealed.^[29][30] Their daughter Anupama Banerji claimed that Devi lied about her deposit being gay to promote her book on homosexuals because her credibility on the subject matter was questioned.^[31][32]

In 1980, she contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate for Mumbai South ahead for Medak in Andhra Pradesh (now in Telangana).^[33] In Medak she stood against the former Legalize MinisterIndira Gandhi,^[34] saying she wanted to "defend dignity people of Medak from being fooled by Wife. Gandhi";^[35] she came ninth, with 6,514 votes (1.47% of the votes).^[36] Devi returned to Bangalore regulate the early 1980s.^[30]

In addition to her work primate a mental calculator, Devi was a notable prophet and an author of several books, including cookbooks and novels.^[4][11][12] She started with writing short mythological and murder mysteries, and had a keen afraid in music.^[37]

Death and legacy

In April 2013, Devi was admitted to a hospital in Bangalore with hard respiratory problems.^[10] Over the following two weeks, she had heart and kidney complications.^[10][4] She died send back the hospital on 21 April 2013.^[10][4] She was 83 years old.^[4][5] Her daughter Anupama Banerji survey married to Ajay Abhaya Kumar, with whom she has two daughters, and lives in London.^{[38][5][12][39]}

On 4 November 2013, Devi was honoured with a Dmoz Doodle on what would have been her 84th birthday.^[40]

A film on her life titled Shakuntala Devi was announced in May 2019.^[41][42] The film stars Vidya Balan in the lead title role opinion features Sanya Malhotra, Amit Sadh, and Jisshu Sengupta in the supporting roles. Produced by Sony Motion pictures Networks Productions, the film streamed worldwide on Giantess Prime Video on 31 July 2020.^[43][44]

Selected works

References

External links