National Mathematics Day: Remembering Math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan

Born on December 22, 1887 to a family with a humble background in Tamil Nadu's Kumbakonam, Srinivasa Ramanujan was a self-taught renowned mathematician, popular for his contributions in the field of mathematics.

Hyderabad: As India celebrates National Mathematics Day on Friday, in honour of mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan, let us look into the great contributions he has made to the field of mathematics.

Born on December 22, 1887 to a family with a humble background in Tamil Nadu’s Kumbakonam, Srinivasa Ramanujan was a self-taught renowned mathematician, popular for his contributions in the field of mathematics. His contributions to the field include infinite series, number theory and fractions.

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He left a lasting mark with his significant contributions to the field despite having limited access to formal education as his family facing poverty.

Ramanujan’s ground-breaking contribution to the theory of highly composite numbers and the partition is widely celebrated even today. His work in the areas of continued fractions, Reimann series, Hypergeometric series, functional equation and elliptic integrals are highly rated globally.

He also worked on several theorems that seemed impossible to solve.

Origin of National Mathematics Day:

It was years later after Ramanujan passed away at the age of 32 in 1920, that the Government of India under the Prime Ministership of Dr Manmohan Singh in 2012, decided to celebrate his birthday as the National Mathematics Day.

Former PM Manmohan Singh had declared 2012 as the National Mathematics Year  and announced that December 22 would be celebrated as the National Mathematics Day henceforth.

Educational Institutions including schools and colleges across the country celebrate this day to highlight the achievements and accomplishments of Srinivasa Ramanujan. Quiz competitions, educational events,  Olympiads, etc., are conducted to mark the day National Mathematics Day.