The National Mathematics day is celebrated on December 22 on the birth anniversary of the great Indian Mathematician, S Ramanujan who was born in Tamil Nadu’s Erode on December 22, 1887. This day is observed in all educational institutions across the nation.

In 2017, the importance of the day was elevated with the inauguration of the Ramanujan Math Park in Kuppam, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

The Great Indian Mathematician childhood was full of challenges as he spent days in poverty. For studies he used to borrow books and read books from friends in school.

At a very young age he took the job of clerk to support his family financially. Meanwhile in his free time, he enjoyed solving math problems and exploring different theorems.

Ramanujan was a Prodigy child

Despite all challenges Ramanujan was a brilliant student since childhood, by the age of 12, he had already mastered Trigonometry, and at 15, he acquired a copy of George Shoobridge Carr’s Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics.

In 1903 he secured a scholarship to the University of Madras but lost it the following year because he neglected all other studies in pursuit of mathematics.

In 1911, Ramanujan published his first paper in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. His exceptional talent was gradually acknowledged, and in 1913, he began a correspondence with the British mathematician Godfrey H. Hardy.

This interaction eventually resulted in a specific scholarship from the University of Madras and a grant from Trinity College, Cambridge.

Overcoming his religious objections, Ramanujan traveled to England in 1914, where Hardy tutored him and collaborated with him in some research.

He earned a B.A. Degree by research from Cambridge University in 1916 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in February 1918.

Mathematical accomplishments

Ramanujan put forward numerous formulas that could be further explored in detail. G.H. Hardy noted that Ramanujan’s findings are exceptionally profound and often contain more complexity than is initially apparent.

The legendary Mathematician passed away on April 26, 1920, at the young age of 32.