Shakuntala Devi was an Indian writer and mathematical genius. He is popularly known as the “human-computer” for performing complex mathematical calculations in his mind and conveying the results intuitively. His extraordinary abilities earned him a place in the “Guinness Book of World Records”.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shakuntala Devi was born on Monday, 4 November 1929 (age 83 years; at death 2013) in Bengaluru. His zodiac sign was Scorpio. Due to the poor condition of her family, she could not receive formal education.
At the age of 3, Shakuntala began to display some advanced skills in numbers, and by the time she reached the age of 5, she could calculate cube roots. His father discovered his ability to remember numbers and took him on tours and road shows and demonstrated his ability to calculate. Soon, she attracted a lot of attention and started earning money from her talent. Shakuntala then visited various universities in South India. When she was six years old, she showcased her skills at the University of Mysore. Furthermore, he showcased his skills at Annamalai University, Osmania University and the Universities of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. In 1944, she earned international recognition and moved to London with her father.
Death
Shakuntala died on 21 April 2013 due to respiratory, heart and kidney problems (age 83 at the time of death).
Physical Appearance
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family, Caste and Husband
Shakuntala Devi belonged to an orthodox Kannada Brahmin family. His father was a circus artist. There is not much information about his mother and siblings. Shakuntala was married to Paritosh Banerjee, an Indian Administrative Service officer from Kolkata, in 1960. They divorced in 1979. The couple have a daughter, Anupama Banerjee.
Shakuntala Devi and Anupama Banerjee
livelihood
In 1944, Shakuntala became an international name and traveled to many countries, including the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Italy, Canada, Russia, France, Spain, Mauritius, Indonesia and Malaysia, demonstrating her expertise in mathematics. . Shakuntala is best remembered for calculating the multiplication of two randomly chosen 13 digit numbers, which were- 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779. He answered it correctly within 28 seconds. His arithmetic talent earned him a place in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ in 1982.
Shakuntala Devi in her youth
Shakuntala had mastered her mathematics talent to such an extent that when she was asked to calculate the 23rd root of a 201 digit number at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, USA, she solved it in 50 seconds Whereas, it took four minutes. It takes more than a minute for a professor to write down the problem and for a UNIVAC computer to solve it.
Shakuntala Devi solving math problem
She was also a successful astrologer and had written several books on the subject. He also wrote many books, puzzles, cookbooks and novels on mathematics for children. In 1977, he wrote ‘The World of Homosexuals’, one of his most important books. This was the first comprehensive study of homosexuality in India.
Shakuntala Devi’s book on homosexuality
Shakuntala was also an active philanthropist. She started Shakuntala Devi Education Foundation Public Trust to provide good education to underprivileged children. He has also worked to spread global awareness about India’s contribution to mathematics.
Shakuntala Devi’s trust
Controversy
Opposition to astrology and prediction.
Shakuntala Devi once faced opposition to her astrology and future prediction practices from Indian social reformer, rationalist and writer Shyam Manav, who is also the national convenor of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an organization dedicated to fighting superstitions. On 25 May 1985, an FIR was filed against Shakuntala Devi regarding her future prediction practices. According to Manav, Shakuntala once used an advertisement which said,
“Even God can tell the correct fortune, so can Shakuntala Devi.”
In a YouTube video where he called Shakuntala Devi a ‘fraud’, Manav claimed that he and his team had proved the inaccuracy of her predictions, which led Shakuntala to cancel her participation in an event in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Awards and Honors
- Most Distinguished Woman of the Year by the University of the Philippines (1969)
- Ramanujan Mathematical Genius Award in Washington DC (1988)
- Awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award a month before his death (2013)
Facts/General Knowledge
- His father became a circus performer who, in contrast to his family’s priestly traditions, excelled in trapeze, tightrope, lion taming, and human cannonballing.
- On 4 November 2013, Shakuntala was honored with a Google Doodle for her achievements on her 84th birthday.
Google Doodle of Shakuntala Devi
- Arthur Jensen, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted an in-depth study of his abilities. They published their findings in the academic journal “Intelligence”.
- Shakuntala claimed that she enrolled in a convent school when she was 10 years old, but was expelled from the school within 3 months of her admission as her parents were unable to pay the fees.
- Shakuntala appeared on the BBC show, where host Leslie Mitchell asked her to solve a complex mathematics problem. He solved the problem in a few seconds but the host claimed that the answer was wrong because it was different from what the host and his entire team had calculated. However, later, it was realized that Devi’s answer was correct and the answer calculated by the host and his team was wrong. This news spread throughout the world and he was given the title of “Human Computer”.
- Actress Vidya Balan will play the role of Shakuntala Devi in her biopic, which is scheduled to release in the year 2020.
Vidya Balan will play the role of Shakuntala Devi in the film.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn