86th Death anniversary of Great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician who belongs to 20th century. Born on 22 December 1887, his ideas had reshaped 20th century mathematics. He was lived during the British Rule in India. He was a dignified man with pleasant manners. He had no formal training in mathematics. But, he had largely self-studied and had become one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. He was born in town of Erode in Tamil Nadu in extreme poverty but he changed his destiny. Let’s know about his life on his death anniversary.

Education and love for maths
Ramanujan had developed the love for maths singlehandedly. He was a child prodigy and he would entertain his friends at school. He had contributed the 20th century with his theory. This theory connect the computations of the digits of ‘pi’ to modular forms.

He was not able to complete college due to lack of interest in non-mathematical subjects. Later on, he got a job of clerk where he used to devote time to maths due to less job responsibilities. On the encouragement of a senior, he had written to G.H. Hardy, a famous mathematician at Trinity College, Cambridge University. In the letter, Ramanujan attached 120 theorems as a representative sample of his work. Ramanujan’s works highly impressed Hardy and he invited Indian mathematician to Trinity College to work with him.

Ramanujan made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems considered to be unsolvable. He compiled nearly 3,900 equations in his lifetime. On his 125th birth anniversary in 2011, the Indian Government declared that 22 December will be celebrated every year as National Mathematics Day. In fact, Government of India issued postage stamps in the same years as a token of respect.

Due to his ill health, he had died on 26 April 1920 in India at the age of 32. He had a very short life and but did remarkable worked in that.

Check out tweets on his death anniversary:

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