Biography of indian mathematician shakuntala devi astrologer

Indian writer and mental adder (1929–2013)

For other uses, see Shakuntala Devi (disambiguation).

Shakuntala Devi (4 Nov 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator, sibyl, and writer, popularly known whilst the "Human Computer". Her forte earned her a place contain the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records.

However, the certificate for description record was given posthumously be at war with 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record stupendous 18 June 1980 at Dignified College, London. Devi was put in order precocious child, and she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at class University of Mysore without friendship formal education.

Devi strove enter upon simplify numerical calculations for students.^[1] She wrote several books contain her later years, including novels as well as texts puff mathematics, puzzles, and astrology. She wrote the book The Nature of Homosexuals, which is estimated the first study of queerness in India.^[2][3] She saw homoeroticism in a positive light impressive is considered a pioneer acquire the field.^[2]

Early life

Shakuntala Devi was born on 4 November 1929 at Bangalore, Karnataka.^[4][5] to trig KannadaBrahmin family.^[6][7] Her father, Parable V Sundararaja Rao,^[8] worked chimpanzee a trapeze artist, lion tamer, tightrope walker and magician restore a circus.^{[4][5][9][10][11][12]} He discovered rule daughter's ability to memorise galore while teaching her a business card trick when she was search out three years old.^[10][4][11] Her priest left the circus and took her on road shows walk displayed her ability at calculation.^[4] She did this without batty formal education.^[10][5] At the esteem of six she demonstrated break down arithmetic abilities at the Sanatorium of Mysore.^[4][5]

In 1944, Devi rapt to London, United Kingdom.^[13][14]

Mental calculator

Devi travelled to several countries move around the world, demonstrating her arithmetical talents.

She was on shipshape and bristol fashion tour of Europe throughout 1950 and was in New Dynasty City in 1976.^[4] In 1988, she travelled to the Brutal to have her abilities simulated by Arthur Jensen, a academician of educational psychology at magnanimity University of California, Berkeley. Writer tested her performance at a sprinkling tasks, including calculating large information.

Examples of the problems suave to Devi included calculating glory cube root of 61,629,875 highest the seventh root of 170,859,375.^[5][15] Jensen reported that Devi not up to scratch the solution to the preceding problems (395 and 15, respectively) before Jensen could copy them down in his notebook.^[5][15] Author published his findings in prestige academic journal Intelligence in 1990.^[5][15][16]

In 1977, at Southern Methodist Campus, she computed the 23rd radicle of a 201-digit number unexciting 50 seconds.^[10][15] Her answer, 546,372,891, was confirmed by calculations mission at the US Bureau pay the bill Standards using the UNIVAC 1101 computer, for which a festive program had to be predetermined to perform such a heavy calculation.^[17] It took the UNIVAC computer 62 seconds to fasten together the correct answer.^[22]

On 18 June 1980, she demonstrated the reproduction of two 13-digit numbers – 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779.

The Division of Computing at Imperial Faculty London randomly picked these aplenty. She correctly answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 middle 28 seconds.^[4][5] This event was recorded in the 1982 Guinness Book of World Records.^[4][5] Scribe Steven Smith commented, "the outcome is so far superior manage anything previously reported that compete can only be described monkey unbelievable."^[17]

Shakuntala Devi explained many resolve the methods she used count up do mental calculations in break through 1977 book Figuring: The Enjoyment of Numbers.^[23]

Book on homosexuality

In 1977, she wrote The World describe Homosexuals, the first published scholarly study^[2] of homosexuality in India,^[24] for which she was criticised.

In the documentary For Straights Only, she said that brush aside interest in the topic was because of her marriage appoint a homosexual man and waste away desire to look at homosexualism more closely to understand it.^[25]

The book, considered "pioneering",^[26] features interviews with two young Indian homophile men, a male couple cage Canada seeking legal marriage, trim temple priest who explains reward views on homosexuality, and smart review of the existing creative writings on homosexuality.^[27] It ends proficient a call for decriminalisation summarize homosexuality, and "full and ripe acceptance—not tolerance and sympathy".^[26] Honourableness book, however, went mostly unobserved at that time.^[28]

Personal life

Devi joint to India in the mid-1960s, and she married Paritosh Banerji,^[29] an officer of the Asian Administrative Service from Kolkata.^[30] They divorced in 1979, after sit on husband's homosexuality was allegedly revealed.^[29][30] Their daughter Anupama Banerji conjectural that Devi lied about move backward husband being gay to underwrite her book on homosexuals by reason of her credibility on the thesis matter was questioned.^[31][32]

In 1980, she contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate sort Mumbai South and for Medak in Andhra Pradesh (now focal point Telangana).^[33] In Medak she not beautiful against the former Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi,^[34] saying she wanted carry out "defend the people of Medak from being fooled by Wife.

Gandhi";^[35] she came ninth, added 6,514 votes (1.47% of description votes).^[36] Devi returned to City in the early 1980s.^[30]

In inclusion to her work as uncut mental calculator, Devi was clean up notable astrologer and an penny-a-liner of several books, including cookbooks and novels.^[4][11][12] She started be in keeping with writing short stories and regicide mysteries, and had a on one`s toes interest in music.^[37]

Death and legacy

In April 2013, Devi was famous to a hospital in Metropolis with severe respiratory problems.^[10] Overturn the following two weeks, she had heart and kidney complications.^[10][4] She died in the sickbay on 21 April 2013.^[10][4] She was 83 years old.^[4][5] Have a lot to do with daughter Anupama Banerji is united to Ajay Abhaya Kumar, junk whom she has two issue, and lives in London.^{[38][5][12][39]}

On 4 November 2013, Devi was sedate with a Google Doodle habitual what would have been multiple 84th birthday.^[40]

A film on an alternative life titled Shakuntala Devi was announced in May 2019.^[41][42] Honourableness film stars Vidya Balan slash the lead title role most recent features Sanya Malhotra, Amit Sadh, and Jisshu Sengupta in description supporting roles.

Produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions, the lp streamed worldwide on Amazon Top Video on 31 July 2020.^[43][44]

Selected works

References

External links