National Mathematics Day 2023: History, significance and Srinivasa Ramanujan’s contributions

History December 22 was designated as the National Mathematics Day by the Manmohan Singh government in 2012. Since then, the National Mathematics Day has been celebrated every year. The year 2012 was also termed and celebrated as the National Mathematics Year.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on  December 22, 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu. At a young age of 12, he had gained knowledge in Trignometry and at the age of 15, he obtained a copy of George Shoobridge Carr’s Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics.

Ramanujan, one of the greatest Indian mathematicians of all time, is known for his work in the areas of Riemann series, hypergeometric series, elliptic integrals, continued fractions, and functional equations of the zeta function.

In 1911, he got his first paper published in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. In 1916, he was awarded the B.A. degree by research at the Cambridge University. 

Ramanujan had spent his childhood days in great difficulty and poverty. He died on April 26, 1920 at age of 32.

The great Indian mathematician has left behind around 4,000 original theorems.

Significance

The National Mathematics Day is celebrated to spread awareness about the importance of mathematics and the contributions made by Srinivasa Ramanujan, in the field of mathematics. 

On the NMD, like Srinivasa Ramanujan, who lacked formal education, children are encouraged to go beyond textbooks and get engage in critical thinking and logical reasoning. On this occasion, schools and colleges organise several competitions, Olympiads and other educational events. 

The Mathematics is an essential part of life and has been enriched with the contributions of great Indian mathematicians such as Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Mahavira, and Bhaskara II.

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Published: 22 Dec 2023, 05:59 AM IST