National Mathematics Day | Srinivasa Ramanujan

In honour of “magical” mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan who died exactly a hundred years ago, in 1920, Vigyan Prasar organised events under the name “Ramanujan Yatra” which included a series of talks held monthly on Ramanujan’s work. 

• December 22, the birth anniversary of India’s famed mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.
• Ramanujan was born in 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu (then Madras Presidency) in an Iyengar Brahmin family.

• This was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012 at Madras University, to mark the 125th anniversary of the birth of the Indian mathematician SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN.
• Since then, India’s National Mathematics Day is celebrated every 22 December with numerous educational events held at schools and universities throughout the country.
• The 2012 Indian stamp dedicated to the National Mathematics Day and featuring Ramanujan.
• Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of India’s greatest mathematical geniuses. He made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.
• The Man Who Knew Infinity is a 2015 British biographical drama film about the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, based on the 1991 book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. 
• The Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from developing countries has been awarded annually since 2005.
• Ramanujan’s health continued to deteriorate, and he died in 1920 at the age of 32. 

Ramanujan machine

• The Ramanujan machine is named for famed Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematician who grew up in India and was “discovered” by fellow mathematician G.H. Hardy.
• Ramanujan machine—a device that automatically generates conjectures (mathematical statements that are proposed as true statements) for fundamental constants.

Try to Solve: 

Q. A biography of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, written in 1991 by Robert Kanigel. The name of the book is
(a) life Rmanujan
(b) Lion 
(c) The man who knew infinity
(d) Ramanujan’s

Q. Discuss the relevance of works and life of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. (250 Words)