Shakuntala Devi (The human computer)
India, a
land popular for it’s contribution in the field of mathematics has always been
proud of it’s mathematical prodigies and one such prodigy in recent times of
modern India was Shakuntala Devi who was world renowned & referred to as
“Human Computer”.
Shakuntala Devi was born on November 4, 1929 in Bengaluru to an orthodox, Brahmin Kannadiga family. Her father refused to become a priest and instead, wanted to entertain others as a tight-rope walker. He thus became a circus artist and 3-year-old Shakuntala used to accompany him to the circus and often come back mesmerized with her father's performances.
She grew up in a slum and at a very young age, her mathematical abilities were recognized by her father. There is an interesting anecdote about how he recognized it. At the age of 3, when she started playing cards with her father, he was surprised to find that she was winning all the games against him everyday. Suspecting some foul play, he began his “investigation” during which he realized that she was memorizing all the card numbers and their sequence as the game progressed in the initial rounds and with her memory power, she was able to predict the sequence of cards in the subsequent rounds in the same game and thus wait to pick cards strategically to help her win.
Her father taught her mathematical operations like multiplication, division & square root and took her to his circus to demonstrate her quick calculation abilities & memory power to the crowds.News of her ability to solve difficult mathematical problems soon spread like wildfire and she enthralled audiences with her wit and card-tricks, while her father entertained them with rope-walking. By the age of 6, she had her first major show at the University of Mysore where she displayed her mathematical prowess by solving arithmetical problems, mental math questions and finding out complex square roots and cube roots within a few seconds. After a few more similar performances in a number of other institutes, she found success at Annamalai University at the age of 8, when she was finally acknowledged as a 'child prodigy'.
In her early
20s, she toured Europe extensively to demonstrate her skills. During an
interview on BBC, she was given a complicated mathematical calculation which
she solved within seconds but her answer was different from what the
interviewer & his team had calculated. When she insisted that her answer
was right, the interviewer & his team of math experts reexamined their
calculations for several minutes and finally admitted that their initial
calculations were wrong. That incident spread like wildfire across the world
after which she was being popularly referred to as “The Human Computer”. During
her Europe tour, she was invited by several reputed Universities including the
University of Rome.
Her books on
puzzles are popular among college students preparing for jobs interviews which
require analytical skills.
·
'Puzzles to Puzzle
You' is considered one of Shakuntala Devi's best works for aspiring and budding
mathematicians. Critics have rated this book as one of the best reads for
people who want to excel in the field of mathematics and master the secrets of
the subject. A book meant for starters, this publication sold over 6,000 copies
in its first week and continues to be an inspiration for many.
·
'Perfect Murder',
authored by this mathematical wizard, is the tale of a successful
lawyer-turned-killer and is regarded as a fine work of fiction. Translated in a
few regional languages, 'Perfect Murder' put her in the spotlight for her
literary abilities as well.
·
'The World of
Homosexuals', published in 1977, went almost unnoticed in the beginning due to
its bold content and the country's inhospitable outlook to such a controversial
issue. However, with the onset of a new cultural wave, the book soon began to
gather some attention and was included in the 'Top 100 books by Indian authors'
in 2005.
·
This famous Indian
mathematician and 'Child Prodigy' never attended school in her younger days,
but grew up to become one of the greatest mathematicians and authored a number
of books on mathematics.
·
In Rome, a calculating
machine found one of her answers to be wrong. However, after re-checking the
answer, the solution given by the computer was proven wrong and hers was
established as right!
Not only was
she a genius & mathematical magician but also a role model for students and
math enthusiasts. She played a great role in making mathematics an interesting
subject for millions of students due to her practical, fast & efficient
approach towards problem solving. She had authored several books for children
to help them develop interest in maths and help them understand the subject
better.
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